


Dragon Conqueror

by RedTeamShark



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Assassination Plot(s), Biting, Canonical Character Death, Chapter Dedicated to PWP, Coitus Interruptus, Come Eating, Cum Inside, F/F, F/M, Family Breakfast, Family Dinner, Grief Ceremony, Grief/Mourning, Grinding, Half-Dragon Yang, Half-Fae Emerald, Learn to Knock, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Multi, Murder, Naked Cuddling, Oral Sex, Plot Development, Polyamory, Post-Coital Cuddling, Rickety Bridge Trope, Sharing a Bed, Sparring, Threesome - F/F/M, Trans Female Character, Transphobia (referenced), Tukson Might Know Canon, Unsafe Sex, Vaginal Sex, Yang Xiao Long: Unstoppable Pansexual, bandits, handjob, minor/unnamed character death, nongraphic sex, shady deals, unprotected sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-03-12 13:10:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 49,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13547997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: Mercury had certainly taken on worse jobs during his time as a mercenary. Slay a dragon in exchange for its entire horde? The risk was worth the reward.Until the reward became worth a bigger risk.





	1. Golden Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> Hokai so. It’s not like I don’t have a million and one _other_ projects I could work on, but consider:
> 
> 1) The G&G discord server is _amazingly inspirational_  
>  2) The AD discord server are _a bunch of dragon fuckers_
> 
> Time to combine my friends’ passions.

 

Mercury skimmed the notice board, looking for numbers rather than details. Whatever job had the most zeroes at the end of it, that was his forte. He plucked a flyer off, taking it back to the market stall Emerald was currently pretending to browse. “How about this one?”

“Escort mission for a prince across the mountains. He’s gonna want you to carry all his shit.” She pocketed a necklace as the man at the stall turned to help another customer, moving on to the next booth. “Try again.”

Back to the board, tossing the flyer for the escort mission aside and looking again. Ugh, this would be a lot easier if she’d just  _ help _ him pick one, but no, Emerald had to do her whole ‘steal from the rich and sell to the richer’ routine in  _ every _ town. It was a wonder they weren’t up there with ‘wanted dead or alive’ yet.

“Hey…” The green-haired thief walked up behind him, taking a bite of an apple and tossing one into his hands. She pointed to a flyer under the others, pulling it down and reading it. “Here you go, slay a dragon. Easy peasy, yeah?”

“Yeah, the Amber Dragon went  _ so _ well last time.” He snorted, shaking his head. “What’s the reward?”

“Better than Amber. The town’s offering the dragon’s horde for its carcass. They must be getting desperate.” She walked as she talked, back towards the inn they were staying at. “And until Cinder gets… back… this might be a good distraction for you.”

“For me? What’re you going to do?” He shook his head as she pulled the handful of expensive jewels from her pocket, snorting. “Why do I even ask? Fine, I’ll do the dragon job. Where is it?”

“Just south of here. Go for the noble knight routine, not the heathen mercenary.” Her red eyes moved over him, her smirk growing. “And Mercury? Don’t fuck it up.”

* * *

“ ‘Don’t fuck it up’,” he repeated, mocking, as he crossed the mountains. This would be a lot easier with her along to help, to guide him through the narrow passages and winding canyons. The map in his pocket was next to useless, had been discarded after he’d come across the first landslide on the path. These people were  _ terrified _ of the Golden Dragon that had taken up residence in their mountains, they hadn’t exactly been focusing on documenting the changing topography.

To be fair to the village below, their most effective fights were apparently a group of teenagers. And no sane mother would send her child to fight a dragon. Better to post up in nearby towns and hope for someone like him to come along.

Mercury had to wonder how many others had tried and failed to rid the town of its Golden Dragon. The elders spoke as if the dragon had been there for generations, but the fervor with which they wanted it gone told him a different story.

This was a new development and he’d gotten fucking  _ duped _ by these people. It probably wasn’t even a Golden Dragon, just another Amber one.

Good for minerals and mines, bad for small farming communities that had to pay tribute. He’d get precious stones and useful materials that he could sell in bigger cities, but he’d also have a hell of a fight on his hands.

Though… if they  _ were _ right, if it  _ was _ a Golden Dragon, the town was a bunch of idiots. Golden Dragons brought prosperity where they settled, put untold riches in the hands of all in their domains. It was rumored that even the historic presence of a Golden Dragon would lead to centuries of prosperity, the richest cities in the world built on the sites those rare beasts once called home.

Emerald really  _ should _ have come along, she could try to convince it to come with them, to eliminate their money woes forever.

He made camp for the night in a cave, lit a fire and settled back against the wall, eyes on the exit. From up here he could see the stars, the moon, the splay of the mountains below him. It was quiet, secure, a place he could actually rest. Emerald may have liked her cities, her excitement and the multitude of suckers waiting to be robbed blind, but he’d take the isolation any day. The only sound his own heartbeat in his ears… He preferred it.

The early dawn came with rumbling rocks, jerking him from sleep. Mercury pushed himself to stand, limping slightly from the night sat upright on the hard ground, moving to the entrance of the cave. He jumped back, almost fell in his own fire as earth and rock slid down the mountain inches from the cave entrance, quickly sealing him in. 

Under his breath he cursed, looking between his options. Dig out and continue climbing or hope that the cave led further in and came out somewhere else. He looked away from the blocked entrance, into the darkness beyond his fire, then to the flames themselves. They stirred just slightly in the stilling air, shifting this way and that. After a moment they grew completely still and he sighed in resignation. Dig out it was.

The faintest movement of the flames changed his plans, the slightest push towards the cave entrance. If there was airflow coming through the cave, there had to be a way out somewhere. Mercury slowly unwrapped the cloth from his arm, tying it around one of his unburnt logs from the fire before sticking it into the flames. He pulled a second log directly from the fire, tamped the last of the embers out of it and scratched it against the uneven cave wall. Perfect.

With light and a means to find his way back, he started further into the cave. 

At first he didn’t notice the increase in temperature, thought his sweat came from exertion. He didn’t see the way the light shifted, the way his torch became weaker and weaker in the face of this growing brilliance. And, had he not been keenly listening for a sound other than his own footsteps, he may have stumbled right into the dragon’s lair without ever being aware of his mistake.

It was laughter that gave him pause, that made him reassess his surroundings. He set the torch on the ground, stomped out the flames and looked around at the mild golden glow of his surroundings. Lightly touched the wall, feeling the heat that radiated from the rocks. He’d been on a steady upward climb at first, thighs burning with the effort of it, but somewhere along the way things had turned to downhill, had spiraled deeper into the mountain. He’d almost gone back, but every time he’d stopped to check, that small puff of air had moved the flame on his torch and he’d kept on.

Now, aware of how close he was to his goal without being prepared, Mercury hesitated. It was one thing to bring a dragon out, to slay it away from its horde, but this… He’d never faced a dragon with its horde behind it. Supposedly proximity to the horde increased their power. Supposedly, the instinct to defend made it more ferocious. Supposedly--

“I know you’re there, you know.”

The voice made his heart stutter, an involuntary step backwards. It wasn’t quite the roar of a dragon, was closer to human than anything he’d expected, and  _ that _ had thrown him off. Mercury reached for his knife as footsteps closed in on him, the sound of laughter like coins jingling in a pouch.

What rounded the corner was not a ferocious beast but a… a girl. Her hair sparkled like gold, perhaps  _ was _ gold, her body draped in loose fabrics, earth tones with highlights of color like a sunrise. She gazed at him with red eyes, jogged something in him that fit pieces together.

A half dragon.

Mercury pulled the knife from his side, took another step back and prepared to fight. From her golden hair sprouted a pair of horns, tipping each of her fingers were long claws, and when she grinned he could see sharp teeth. She reached up, raked her nails down the rock and left deep grooves behind, flakes of gold dust drifting down onto the pile of pebbles she’d just turned the solid wall into.

“Did you come here to kill me?”

Of course he did, why else would be he there, except… “No.” Mercury dropped the knife to the ground, his hands slowly lifting, disengaging himself as a threat. “I was sent here to slay you, but… I have a better idea.”

“You can’t have my horde.” Her eyes turned sharp, something rustling behind her. Her tail lashed out from behind her back, whipped against his lower leg. The dragon frowned when he didn’t flinch, struck again. “Usually humans fall down after that.”

“I’m not like usual humans.” He took a step closer, watched her face carefully. “I’m not interested in your life or your horde. But the people of the village want you gone and I think we could… come up with an arrangement to make everyone happy.”

Her eyes darted back over her shoulder, arms crossing in front of her chest. “What were you thinking?”

“Come with me. Travel, see the world… Find a village to settle in that will accept you.” The tail lashed out again, struck his other leg and she growled in frustration when he still didn’t flinch. “And if you can’t find one, you can stay with us. I have a friend who is… similar to you.”

“Similar how?” Under her anger, he could see curiosity growing. Actual consideration of his offer.

“The eyes. Red eyes of a half-breed, right? She comes from a human father and a fae mother, has the power to cast illusions and see with eyes not her own. Half the being, half the power… all of the cost.” He reached forward, touched the warm skin of her arm gently. “They’ll keep sending people like me to do away with you. One will succeed.”

Her hand closed over his, claws digging in and drawing blood until he yanked away. The grin on her face returned, grew even. “I want to know how a human bleeds from the hand but not the legs. And how such a miraculous human plans to find me a place to stay.” She stepped forward, cupped his cheek with a burning hot hand, the touch gentle. “My name is Yang Xiao Long, the Golden Dragon of the east mountains.”

“Mercury Black. A mercenary from the Mistral mines.”

* * *

“Absolutely fucking  _ not _ ,” Emerald hissed, darting her gaze across the inn’s common room. He’d had the forethought to put Yang in something less flashy, to cover her hair and her horns, hide as much of her nature as possible under clothing. She looked like a penitent, until she opened her mouth, laughter ringing out nothing like those that sought to repent for the world’s misdeeds.

“She’s a Golden Dragon, Emerald. We’ll be rich without ever lifting a finger.” He caught the glint in her eyes at the words, grinned wide. “It’ll be fine.”

“And when she finds this place to settle down that you promised her?”

Mercury raised a finger, pointing to Emerald’s face. “You know she won’t.”

“Put that finger away before I bite it off. So when she figures out you  _ lied _ to  _ use her _ ?”

“You stayed.” A low blow, to be sure, but no less of the truth. He ran a hand through his silver hair, shaking his head quickly. “Cinder still isn’t back. We need a better source of income than the notice boards until she returns. And--” He snapped his mouth shut as Yang dropped beside him, staring at the plate of food she’d brought over. “Are you feeding everyone in here?”

“Get your own.” She curled her arm around the plate protectively, beginning to eat ravenously. 

Across the table, Emerald grinned. “You know, I take it back. I like her.”

The inn was crowded, a festival in town drawing people in from all over. While they had two rooms already, getting a third was out of the question. Emerald sharing her room was also out of the question. Mercury eyed the half-dragon sprawled out on his bed, a frown on his face.

“Don’t dragons usually just curl up in a corner?”

“This bed is stuffed with goose feathers. If you want me off it, you’re going to have to kill me.” She propped herself up on one arm, watching him closely. The concealing robes had been left on the floor, her body draped in only the light bedsheet. As it pooled in her lap he sucked in a breath, darting his eyes away.

“Are you naked?”

“How else am I supposed to sleep?”

“Okay… we need to seriously teach you how to pass as human if we’re going to stay in town.” There was no way he was sleeping on the floor. Mercury crossed to the far side of the room, closed the curtain in front of the window and disrobed to just his pants in the candlelight. He took a seat on the edge of the bed, leaning over to blow out the candle before nudging Yang until she made enough room for him to lie down. Almost immediately her warm body pressed to him, her arm crossing his torso and head resting on his chest. 

“You haven’t told me yet.”

“Told you what?” His heart hammered in his chest, he was sure she could hear it. This close together, the press of her bare skin on his… He willed himself not to think about it too much.

“How a human bleeds from the hand, but not the leg. Or…” She yawned, her fingers curving against his side. “Or how he plans to tame me.”

“Stories for another day.” His arm slid around her shoulders, pulled her just a bit tighter to himself as he got comfortable. “Get some sleep, Yang.”

“Mmm… goodnight, Mercury…”

* * *

The days of traveling were better with three people. Or, more precisely, watching Yang and Emerald butt heads and get on each others nerves was more entertaining than doing it himself. The number of times he had to step between them, diffuse a fight before it could become catastrophic was less pleasant, but the price of his daily amusement wasn’t higher than the value yet.

They settled in for a night on the road and he helped set up the tent, sent the girls inside and sat up by the fire to keep watch. It wasn’t more than an hour later that Yang crawled out of the thin canvas, joined him at the fire and laid her head in his lap. He raised an eyebrow in silent question, didn’t get an answer and let it drop.

“Tell me about the stars.” She whispered, her eyes bright red, darting across the sky. “Tell me the star stories.”

“I don’t know the star stories.” He tilted his head up, followed her gaze to the brilliant pinpricks of light above them. “In Mistral, you couldn’t see the stars. There was too much dust in the air from the mines.”

“Then… I’ll tell you.” She sat up, took his hand in hers and leveled it upward, pointed him towards a particularly bright light. “That’s the Home Star. It’s to the north, and if you’re lost you find it and follow it, and it will lead you home.” Each time she moved his arm she pressed closer to him, guided his gaze around the sky. “The Sisters are there, they rise and set together. And over here…” Yang turned his head gently, pulled his gaze down to meet her eyes. “Over here I’m wondering what it’ll take to get you to kiss me, Mercury.”

“All you had to do was ask.” Mercury leaned in, sealed his lips against hers as his hands settled on her hips. She slid her arms around his shoulders, pressed herself close to him and rocked her hips down. The heat of her made him groan, the feelings stirring inside him filling his mind with only thoughts of Yang. She moved her hands to his chest, pushed him down slowly, and followed him to the ground, their lips still locked together.

She knew what she wanted, broke the kiss long enough to remove his shirt. His hands raked up her sides, pulled away the loosely draped fabrics she preferred to wear and cupped her breasts. On either side of his head her hands dug into the earth, left deep gouges in the soft dirt with flakes of gold in them. “Mercury…” She panted his name and ground her hips into his, both of them feeling the ache of their want for each other.

The searing heat of her skin only made him want more, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back into another bruising kiss. The ground against each other, muffled moans with their kisses, trembled on the edge of control.

“Do you want--I mean…” He broke away, tilted his head back and almost screamed as Yang went for his neck, mixed pain with pleasure through sharp bites and gentle nibbles. “ _ Fuck _ , I wanna be inside you.”

“Thought you’d never ask.” She sat up, breathing hard, both of them taking a chance to catch their breath. Her hands made quick work of his pants, pushed them down his thighs as he finished pushing her loose skirt out of the way. As the warmth of her fingers wrapped around him he felt his hips twitch upward, eyes rolling back. It was so much more than when he took himself in hand… “Easy now…” The warm press of her body against his returned, her hand guiding him against her.

Mercury took a few steadying breathes, settled his hands on her hips and held her close. He was almost there, could feel her against him, the excitement between her legs matching his own. Out here on the side of the road, her body pressed to him, her hair hiding them from the world inside a curtain of gold… He entered her slowly, his groan caught by her lips, their tongues twisting around each other as their hips pressed flush together.

Yang rode him slowly, moved herself up and down and reveled in the heat he put inside her. Her breathless cries for more were answered by his hips moving up to meet her, his hands trailing over her body, lighting fires across her skin in their wake. He traced over her hip bone and inward, touched between her legs and she clenched around him, dug fresh furrows that shot veins of gold deep into the dirt under them as she came.

A second wave of orgasm took her before she could come down from the first high, her screams of pleasure muffled against his neck, her tongue tasting the bruises and bitemarks she’d already left there. Mercury held her tight, buried himself inside her and rode out the bliss with her. They came down together, breathing hard, her slow movements removing him from her. Yang carefully redraped her fabrics as Mercury fixed his pants, the two of them settling by the fire once more. 

She ran a finger down his thigh to his lower leg, feeling the hard metal through his pants. “Was it the mines?”

“No.” His arms wrapped around her, pulled her in to rest against his bare chest. “It was something much darker than that.”


	2. Higanbana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Higanbana was busier than he remembered. A town prospering in the midst of threats from bandits and monsters. A place for weary travelers to rest and shop and find information not posted on job boards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of my friends are enablers. <3

The low flames of the campfire were just enough to warm up breakfast, cooked meats and grains they’d bought in town two days previous. Supplies were running low, the meal stretched thin between the three of them, lack of food already putting Emerald’s temper in a downward spiral.

“I’m going hunting,” she declared as they broke up camp, red eyes scanning the forest around them. “I’ll catch up to you.”

“If we divert from the road to Higanbana we’ll leave you a sign you can find.” Mercury waved her off, folding down the canvas of the tent and stuffing it into his backpack.

“Will she be okay on her own?” Yang made quick work of the tent poles, broke them down as she’d been shown and wrapped them up to be put away. She’d adjusted quickly to life on the road, something that made her at least a little more tolerable in Emerald’s eyes.

“Yeah, she does this a lot. The forests especially are good for her.” He moved to the fire, stamping out the coals and kicking dirt over them. “Half-fae, remember? Something something, old trees are thinner veils. She’s told me about it before, I sort of listened.”

“You are just… the  _ most _ useful tour guide.” They laughed, double-checked the camp, and started on the road again. Higanbana was another full day’s walk away, but if they kept pace they’d make it by sunset. With any luck they could set up in an inn and wait for Emerald to rejoin them.

The weather was good for travelling, fat white clouds passing over the sun and offering cooling shade every few minutes. The air currents that moved the clouds didn’t reach all the way down, the trees around them still and quiet.

“So…” Yang started as they walked, her bare feet digging into the dirt at the side of the trail. She’d have to put on her public clothes when they reached town, disguise herself and pass as human, but until she  _ had _ to… “What’s in Higanbana?”

“Shops, an inn, a job board.” He consulted his mental map of the city, shifting his backpack. “A, uh… a couple of places to earn some extra coin without too much work.”

“So it’s a city? Like the one we just left?”

“I’d say it’s more of a village? Like the one you lived near, but a little bigger. There isn’t another big town close by so it’s been growing.” It was also near Wind Path, his true destination. Higanbana was an up-and-coming city, starting to see the growth of goods and trade, pushing back the terrors of the world with strong walls and stronger defenders. Wind Path was little more than a whisper on the breeze, a rest stop for most. An information source for those who knew how to listen. He needed work to keep his skills sharp, something that would be far more challenging than what was posted on the public job boards.

“I wonder if…” She trailed off, looking to the sky as another cloud covered the sun. Yang snapped back to attention, turning to him with a smile. “So, are you from near here?”

“No. The Mistral Mines are deeper in the mountains, to the north of the capital.” He rubbed his arm, looking back over his shoulder. “I never worked in the mines. I was too young, and then I was too…” 

“Where did you get them?” Yang’s voice was soft, closer. She’d moved onto the road with him, touched his hand with hers before holding it. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay.”

“I…” He chose his words carefully, how much of the truth he could get away with. “I earned these doing work. In Atlas, to the north, there’s rumored to be the only living Platinum Dragon. He provides them with metals and the knowledge of working them. I took on a series of jobs for a man there after I left the mines and in payment he crafted these legs for me.” It was true enough, especially if he didn’t elaborate on what the jobs were.

“A Platinum Dragon… Amazing…” Yang grinned, her hand squeezing his. “We should go to Atlas one day, meet this Platinum Dragon. Where I grew up, in Vale, there’s a great Golden Dragon. Most people call him The Golden Beacon, but I usually just call him dad.” She snickered as Mercury’s steps stuttered, pulling him gently forward along the path. 

Recovering his focus, Mercury fell into step beside her once more, watching Yang from the corner of his eye. “So your father is a Golden Dragon, your mother… is human?” He saw the sunshine in her face fade, temporarily clouded over by something. “I didn’t think that was… possible. Physically.”

“I don’t know. She left shortly after I was born. Abandoned us.” After a moment, Yang’s demeanor brightened again, her fingers pulling free of his so she could walk ahead. “Tell me more about Atlas. I’ve only ever heard about it, I’ve never been there. Is it true that it’s all one big city? Where are the trees? What about the mountains?”

Shaking his head in amusement, Mercury followed behind her, doing his best to answer every question. There were many of them, and what he knew was limited, but Yang seemed pleased with every new piece of information he could provide.

* * *

Higanbana was bustling, busier than he remembered it being. Mercury mentally crossed his fingers that there wasn’t another festival going on, following Yang from stall to stall through the market. He could see the excited way she moved, felt himself smiling at her back. His first guess had been that she’d never been to a city before, but watching now, he was starting to think that  _ all _ civilization was new to her.

“I’m going to head to the inn and get us a couple of rooms. You coming?”

She looked between him and the market stalls, torn. Her sharp teeth worried her lip for a moment, hands cupping her elbows. “Can I… I mean…”

“Don’t draw too much attention to yourself, okay? And don’t get swindled. Stick to the stalls with lots of women and children around them.” From his side he produced a coin pouch, tossing it to her. “I expect there to still be coin in that when you come back.”

Yang grinned, nodding quickly as she slipped the pouch up her sleeve. “Yeah, of course!”

He left her in the market, strolled towards the inn. Having some time alone was better, anyways. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with her knowing just where his money came from, not yet. Mercury slipped a second coin pouch from inside his shirt, laying down four gold pieces on the desk at the inn. “Two rooms for two nights.”

The innkeeper raised an eyebrow, sweeping the gold off the desk and two keys in its place. “Numbers seventeen and nineteen.”

He nodded, slipping his coin pouch back into his shirt and tucking the keys into his pocket. First things first…

Mercury took number seventeen, briefly touching the digits hung on the door before entering the room. He stripped down from his travel clothes, sniffing them and making a note to get them washed soon. The stench wasn’t bad, but the road dust was terrible. There was a basin with a cloth in the corner and he wiped his torso clean, letting the dirt and dust of the road stay on his face and arms.

Redressing in something more suited for his task, he left the room behind, slipped out of the inn via the back door and passed through the narrow alleys to the nearby tavern. Evening was quickly dipping towards twilight and he wouldn’t have much time, but…

“Did you hear about Shion? Bandits attacked, everyone there fled to the mountains, and…” The man at the table, well aware he was the center of attention for the group around him, took a long drink from his beer. He looked each man surrounding him in the eye, setting the empty glass down with a thud. “Something else got them there.”

“These bandits and monsters, they get closer every day…” Another man agreed, sitting back and picking under his thumbnail with a knife. “The council only cares about Haven City, not about the smaller places. All their money comes from trade now, they don’t even need the mines anymore.”

Mercury took a seat near enough to the table to listen, not so close to get involved. He slipped himself deeper into the shadows, intrigued by the talk.

“I heard that it was…”

“There’s whispers about…”

“...and they never found…”

“...next thing you know, we’ll all be…”

“... _ she’s _ behind it.”

The words caught his attention, gaze turning to the speaking man. Mercury focused, listened closely to the low voices carrying across the room.

“She’s dead. You know what they say happened.”

“That’s not what I heard. I heard that there’s a place on the far side of the Eastern Mountains… a place no man returns from. And she went there.”

“Then she won’t return, idiot.” The man smacked the other in the back of the head. “The far side of the Eastern Mountains is nothing. No one has ever made it there and no one has ever come back. There’s no pass through those mountains, no passage around them.”

“And you never wonder why that is? What sort of magic keeps men from reaching that place? Even Atlas can’t get there, with all of their fancy toys.” The man tapped his empty glass on the table, summoning a surly looking barmaid to refill it. “I’m telling you, it’s a witch.”

Mercury rolled his eyes, tuning it out. He’d thought maybe they knew something he’d have to make them forget, but… Honestly, it was more disappointment. A witch? As if a witch would have that power.

Glass empty and with no intention of lingering as the crowds got rowdier, he slipped out from the bar. The moon was climbing high, Emerald would be back soon and odds were good Yang was waiting for him. Mercury took the main streets, hesitating as he heard footsteps behind him. Quiet footsteps, trying to mask themselves. He walked normally, waited until a cloud passed over the moon and ducked into an alley in the darkness. The following footsteps hesitated, stopped as the moonlight turned the world silver again.

“You are good.”

“Better than you.” His voice was low, carrying, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. “What do you want?”

“Do you follow the winds west?” The code, asking if he was going to Wind Path. Mercury slowly stepped from the alley, one hand on his knife.

“I follow the winds where they’re the strongest.” They eyed each other in the empty street, nodding slowly. “You have a job?”

“I have a message…” The man stepped closer, abruptly too close. Before Mercury could take a step back, fingers grasped the back of his neck. “ _ She _ would like you to be in Kuchinashi on the next full moon. With your companion.”

Mercury pushed the hand off him, nodding slowly. “I’ll wait for more news, then.”

With a rustle of clothes the man was gone, and Mercury let out a slow breath. He hated dealing with that one… Pushing the information to the back of his mind, he headed back for the inn, unsurprised to see Yang seated at a table with a large plate of food.

What  _ did _ surprise him was her appearance, the concealing robes abandoned in favor of other clothing, thicker silks draped over her frame and folded in the way most women in Higanbana dressed. Her hair still flowed loose over her shoulders, but the horns no longer protruded from her skull, her tail no longer whipped from behind her.

As he got closer, Mercury saw the other changes, studying her features. The sharp claws at the tips of her fingers were gone, replaced with smoothly filed nails painted a soft gold. Her teeth were also smooth, even and white. And, he saw as he sat down beside her and she turned to look at him, her eyes were purple rather than red.

“How did you…?” He took the coin pouch back numbly, feeling the reduced weight of it. This must have cost her a fortune.

“It’s temporary. There was a stand selling potions and magics, blessings by the gods, all of that. I asked around and everyone said it’s the real deal, so I bought one. The man running it even gave me a sample, first, let me try it for five minutes in a back room.” She grinned, nudging him lightly. “It makes me look human enough that I don’t have to wear a potato sack anymore, so after I got it, I… did a little shopping for some more comfortable clothes. I’ll pay you back, don’t worry.”

“How much of this potion did you get?”

Yang frowned, counting on her fingers. “Each drop lasts five minutes, and I bought a bottle with… a hundred drops? I figure I’ll use it for when we come to towns like this, have a few drops before we get here and be in my room by the time it wears off. If I use it right, it should last me weeks.”

He blew out a breath, nodding slowly. Impressive. “Not bad. I have rooms for us upstairs, number seventeen.” He passed a key to her, grinning. “Don’t lock me out. I’m going to wait down here until Emerald comes in.”

Her meal was almost gone and Yang pushed it to him, nodding. “Don’t be late.” Her fingers brushed his jaw, lingered there a moment before she stood, left the table behind.

Mercury poked at the food, not terribly hungry. It was getting late, Emerald wasn’t back yet, and while she  _ could _ take care of herself,  _ he _ could still worry. Suppose someone had been sent to give her the message about Kuchinashi and caught her off guard? Or bandits had attacked her, or… There were too many possibilities.

He was just getting ready to go back out and find her when she strolled in through the doors, hips swaying, eyes finding him in the almost empty room immediately. Emerald crossed the common room to him, took a seat and immediately began picking the last remnants of food off his plate.

“So,” she grabbed his full glass of water, taking a long drink. “There’s bandits camped out not far from here. Less than an hour’s flight.”

“That… could be hours or days by land. What’s between us and them?”

“Woods and more woods. They’re setting up for a stay, but we need to be gone before the raid starts.” She looked around the inn, lowering her voice. “Where’s your golden girl?”

“Upstairs in our room. Do you want to leave tonight?”

“I need to rest tonight. We’ll pack up and leave town in the morning. Did you find anything interesting?”

“Our next stop is Kuchinashi, during the next full moon. Direct orders.”

Emerald’s eyes lit up, her nod eager. “We haven’t heard anything in so long, I… it could be Cinder.”

“The rumors that she’s still alive are starting to circulate. They even think that a witch on the far side of the Eastern Mountains is involved.” He laughed a little at the thought, shaking his head. Whatever  _ she _ was, it wasn’t a witch. “If she’s rejoining us in Kuchinashi…” He nodded to the ceiling, indicating Yang upstairs. “We’ll need to decide what to do about her.”

“You mean you’ll need to take care of her.” Emerald pushed away from the table, swaying on her feet for a moment, grasping the edge of it to steady herself. Wordlessly, she held out a hand, taking the key Mercury gave her.

“Nineteen.” He stood as well, followed her upstairs and let himself into his room. Emerald needed the rest, he needed to…

Yang was in bed, sprawled out and snoring lightly. Snorting to himself, Mercury undressed to his pants and blew out the candle, joining her under the sheets. He pressed himself against her until she moved, her warmth radiating through him as she settled her bare body against him.

* * *

Alarm bells snapped him awake to gray pre-dawn, Mercury’s eyes wide, his breathing fast. The noise wasn’t fading, it wasn’t a dream--

“Bandits.” He hissed, sitting up, sending Yang’s half-awake form spilling to the other side of the bed. He swung his legs over the edge, stood unsteadily and lurched to the wall that joined his room and Emerald’s. Two sharp bangs of his fist against it were met by two from hers. She was awake and aware, good.

Mercury pulled a shirt on, stuffing the rest of his belongings into his bag before dropping down to lace up his boots. Yang was slowly coming to consciousness, rubbing an eye and looking at him in confusion. “Mercury…?”

“Bandit attack. We need to go, now. Get up, get dressed, pack your things.” 

Wakefulness took her more fully, a short nod before she moved to follow his orders. Stepping out into the hall, he could hear the sleepy murmurs of confusion, the shouts from downstairs for everyone to meet in the lobby and be lead to the evacuation tunnels. Evacuation tunnels…

“It will be fine, we’ll go to a safe place in the mountains to the north of here!” The innkeeper was shouting over the growing alarm bells, coming up the stairs. Soon they’d be going door to door, getting everyone out.

“Tunnels,” Mercury whispered when Emerald joined him in the hall, his eyes on number eighteen across the way. Eight was luckier than seven. He should have asked if he could trade. “Leading North.”

“They were camped up North, foot of the mountains. They knew.  _ Dammit _ .” She punched the wall, rubbing her fist. “They’ll slaughter them.”

He nodded, drifting back into the room with her behind him. Yang was almost packed, was looking between them curiously. “Does this happen a lot?”

“Out here, yeah. Towns have escape routes planned. And… These bandits know about it. They won’t be guarding the perimeter with more than we can handle.” He picked up his knife, tucking it into his belt. “Come on, we’d better get going now if we don’t want to take the tunnels.”

“What about everyone else?” Yang’s voice was low, her fists clenched at her sides. “If they go to the tunnels and the bandits know they’re coming, won’t they… won’t they…”

“It’s not our job to save everyone. We need to look out for ourselves.” He took her arm, led her out of the room and down the stairs. People were milling about in confusion, no one paying attention as they slipped through the kitchen and outside. Yang cast a look over her shoulder, inhaling sharply. “We can warn them, tell them not to--”

“It’s  _ too late _ ,” Emerald snapped, leading the way along, through narrow alleys and around buildings. The alarm bells drowned out conversation as they moved closer to the wall around town, guards shouting directions to the escape tunnels. The slaughter chutes.

“Emerald?” Mercury asked, getting only a headshake. She couldn’t use the eyes of something else, either there was nothing nearby or she was still too tired. He nodded, letting go of Yang’s arm and facing the wall. “I’ll shout if we’re okay. If you don’t hear anything… find another way out.” With quick jumps, he scaled the wall, disappeared over the other side.

“Clear!” He shouted a moment later, sheathing his knife and turning. Yang hopped over next and he caught her as she stumbled, giving another quick look around. “Emerald!”

No answer. Mercury grit his teeth, turning to Yang. “What happened?”

“Nothing! I don’t--”

“ _ Run! _ ” The scream was unmistakably Emerald and he didn’t hesitate, grabbed Yang’s arm and pulled her along as he sprinted for the woods. They needed cover, they needed safety, there was no time to wait for her.

It had been agreed on a long time ago, if one of them fell, the other carried on alone.


	3. Cold Comforts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Would you have left me behind, too?” Her voice was small, shaking, her red eyes studying his face, looking for the lie.
> 
> Mercury stared into the flames, watched the fish slowly brown and begin to smoke. He reached forward, turning them to cook the other side. “No.”

Yang looked back to the town as Mercury pulled her along, only able to see smoke rising above the trees. “Mercury…”

“We have to keep moving.” His tone was dismissive, his posture tense. His hand on her arm squeezed tighter. “Come on.”

Making up her mind, Yang dug her heels in. She stopped walking, yanked her arm free of his grip and stared at him. “What about Emerald?”

“She’ll catch up with us or she won’t.”

“She’s your friend!”

“She’s an associate. We agreed to it when we started traveling together, if one of us falls, the other carries on alone.” He turned back to her, his jaw set. “We have to get to Kuchinashi by the next full moon. Standing around in bandit territory is just going to get us killed.”

She let him take her arm again but still refused to walk, looking back at the town once more. “But all those people…”

“They know the risks of living out here.”

Finally, Yang walked on, pulling her arm free and falling into step beside him. She kept her gaze on the ground, the deep silence around them unbroken.

They stopped for lunch near a river, cast nets into the water and built a small, smokeless fire. Yang sat down by the blaze, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as Mercury hauled the net from the river. Two fish on it, not a good catch… but that was all they’d need. She let him do the prep work, looking up as he took a seat next to her at the fire.

“Would you have left me behind, too?” Her voice was small, shaking, her red eyes studying his face, looking for the lie.

Mercury stared into the flames, watched the fish slowly brown and begin to smoke. He reached forward, turning them to cook the other side. “No.”

She exhaled uneasily, taking the stick of cooked fish when he handed it over, turning it in her hands. He seemed to be telling the truth… her mind kept going back to all the people she’d seen while at the market, smiling women, laughing children, friendly men who offered to carry her bags for her or help her find her way. All of them… the innkeeper, the saleswoman at the shop who had let her sample the potion, the giggling girls who asked if they could touch her hair… Gone. Her fists clenched, the stick snapping in her hands and spilling her fish onto her lap. It burned and she let it, reaching down, digging her nails into the ground.

Yang threw her head back, her mouth opening wide, her red eyes blazing as she roared to the sky.

The woods echoed with it, silence and stillness in its wake, even the wind no longer sighing through the trees. With a more human shout she pushed herself to her feet, hardly aware of Mercury’s movements beside her, of his grab for her arm. She yanked away, stomped towards the water and stripped down, sunk herself into the river. The shock of cold was _good_ , the pain of it was welcome. She wanted to hurt somewhere besides her heart.

The chill waters flowed past her, fanned her hair out alongside her in a cascade as she sank down. Soon everything below her nose was submerged, her red eyes staring into the distance, unseeing. Sand swirled against her legs, pushed forward by the current but stopped by her body. Her hands found rocks, held them and squeezed until they turned to dust.

Mercury stood near the riverbank, watching her, cursing that he couldn’t go in after her. He finally returned to the fire, stoked it up with some larger logs and began setting up camp for the night.

The sun sank and she was still in the water, cast in deep reds, looking like she was in a pool of blood. Yang closed her eyes, breathing steadily, finally leaving the river. She dropped to the ground by the fire without bothering to get dressed, letting the flames dry her skin. Her hair was another story, dripping down her back, weighing her down.

Something dropped over her shoulders and she started, looking to Mercury before wrapping the blanket tighter around herself. “I…” There were no words, nothing that she could get out of her mouth. How was she supposed to explain her heart with her brain? How was she supposed to make him understand that every smiling face she’d encountered, every person’s light she’d felt the warmth of… Thinking of them being snuffed out forever tore her up inside.

He didn’t offer her words, but when he settled down behind her, put his thighs to either side of her hips and pulled her back into his chest, she went. When his hands rubbed up and down her arms, it warmed her up in a way the fire never would. She didn’t notice him moving to her hair until it was dry, slung over her shoulder so his lips could press to the back of her neck.

The quiet of the woods, the security of Mercury’s arms, the tenderness of his lips, finally eased some of her pain. She leaned back into him, breathed out slowly and closed her eyes. “Where are we going next?”

“Our next big town is Kuchinashi… Before that, there’s a place I have to stop.” He helped her up, settled into the tent with her and wrapped his arms back around her. Yang pressed her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“Before we leave...” She swallowed, skating her fingers over his bare skin. “At sunrise, there’s something I want to do. For Higanbana.”

* * *

He watched her light the sticks on fire and blow them out, one by one, smoke rising as she planted each in the ground. Yang knelt before them with her head down, eyes closed, and hands clasped in front of her. She’d put on the loosely draped silks he’d first seen her in, carefully tugged strands of hair from her head and shaped them into jingling gold jewelry that now adorned her neck, wrists, and ankles.

“Was that a dragon thing?” he asked when she seemed to be done, when the sticks no longer smoked and Yang stood again. In the sunshine every inch of her seemed to shine like gold, the streaks of dry tears on her face seemed to sparkle.

“No.” She helped break down camp, the jewelry on her wrists and ankles turning into coins that she slipped into his pouch. The necklace stayed, jingling faintly as she moved. “It’s a human ceremony, one I learned from my mother.”

“I thought you said your mother left.”

“The woman who birthed me left. My mother… She…” Yang shook her head briefly, filling her backpack with the blankets they’d slept on. “Another time. I want to move on.” In more ways than one.

Mercury let it drop, kicked dirt over the fire and looked to the sky. They would have to find a place to cross the river before heading North again… Higanbana had a crossing, but that was probably a poor idea. West, travel along the river, look for a place to cross. It would be the long way around, especially if he stopped in Wind Pass, but as long as they kept moving…

His hand found hers as they walked, holding gently. Whether or not it was comforting to her, he couldn’t tell, but Yang didn’t pull away. She looked to the water, her shoulders up, determined. She hadn’t taken off the silks from that morning, but there was no one else out here. No reason for her to disguise herself.

“Where are we stopping?” she asked abruptly, not looking away from the water.

“I told you, Kuchinashi--”

“You said there was somewhere before that.”

He had. Dammit. Mercury exhaled, closing his eyes. “Just somewhere I can find some work.” His arm pulled and he opened his eyes again, looking back where Yang had stopped walking. “What?”

“Why do you need work? You’re traveling with a Golden Dragon. Or is a _half-breed_ not good enough?”

He snorted, stepping back and touching her cheek gently, tilting her head up to remove the defiant cant of her chin and kiss her instead. “I don’t need money, I need work. Those are two different things. Money keeps us comfortable… Work keeps us safe. Keeps my skills sharp.” He pressed his forehead to hers, staring into her red eyes. “I’m not just using you for the money, Yang.”

The anger faded from her eyes slowly, until she kissed him again. “You plan to slay another dragon?”

“I plan to see what needs to be done. Now…” He skimmed his hands down her body, pushed the silks aside and touched her warm skin. He could feel her shiver against him, boldly moved his hands upward to cup her breasts under her clothes. “What do you say I show you how much I… enjoy your company.”

The grass was soft under her bare skin, his hands and mouth gentle on her. Yang dug her fingers into the ground as his mouth pressed between her legs, her back arching up and her cries to the sky full of pleasure, rather than pain.

* * *

Wind Pass was not the sort of place to flaunt treasures, gold or jewels or rare creatures. Mercury stayed close to Yang, hoping she was able to track the time. He’d loaned her clothes from his bag, pulled her hair up and tucked it under a hood to hide the glittering gold. The potion she’d taken would have to do the rest of the work of keeping eyes off her.

“Don’t talk to anyone and don’t make eye contact. This place is… less than savory,” he instructed quietly, walking by her towards the roadside tavern. They entered to the sound of raucous voices and Yang flinched closer to him as a glass shattered, her hand grasping his arm. “It’s okay.” It really, really wasn’t, the stink of liquor was filling his head with all sorts of bad memories, but Mercury pressed on. He crossed to the bar and leaned on it, tossed a single copper piece onto the counter.

“What do you want?” The man behind the bar was grizzled, bore scars from more than a few fights.

“I’m wondering if this place has any rats.” A gold coin joined the copper one and the barkeep eyed them, before sweeping the two coins into his pocket. He pointed wordlessly to a back table and Mercury looked over his shoulder, turning back and laying another copper on the bar. “Fifteen minutes alone.”

“Fifteen,” the man grunted, taking the coin as Mercury turned away.

He led Yang across the bar, slid into the booth across from the man and pulled her to sit down next to him. Doing this business with a companion wasn’t the best plan, especially not one that didn’t know what he was up to, but he sure as hell wasn’t leaving her outside.

“What do you want?”

“I think the better question is what you want.”

They eyed each other before the man’s narrow gaze darted to Yang. “Impressin’ your girlfriend?”

“She’s not part of the conversation. Give me the information and I’ll give you my price.” Mercury rested his elbow on the table, feigning boredom. “Or maybe you don’t want to follow the winds west anymore, old man.”

“Psh, old. Fine.” The man opened the bag next to him a crack, rifling through it before pulling out a picture. “Run of the mill, his wife wants him dead for what he done to their little girl. Hit her in the face with a bottle one night, he did. Took out both her eyes but the courts won’t let her leave him. Miserable old drunk can’t do the world a favor and do himself in.”

Mercury took the picture, nodding slowly. “Where?”

“Kuchinashi, lower ward. He likes a place called the Brethel Bren for his drink.”

“How much?”

“Two hundred silver, three hundred if you can make it look like an accident. Payment waits for you here.” The old man grinned, leaning forward. “Assumin’ you can follow the winds back.”

“I can.” He scanned the picture once more before pushing it back, nudging Yang out of the booth and standing. They left quickly, rushed footsteps bringing them through the pass and to the far side of the road.

“What was that? Are you--you’re going to kill him?” Yang whispered when they were away, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop walking. The potion was almost worn off, her eyes flickering between calm purple and blazing red.

“Yes. I’m going to kill a useless drunk that blinded his own daughter. And I’m going to make it look like an accident and we’ll be three hundred silver richer.” He saw the look on her face, narrowed his eyes. “This is what I _do_ , Yang. We met because I went up there to slay you, remember?”

“But… You… he…” Her argument fell apart and she threw up her hands, arms crossing afterwards. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to, you just have to stay out of my way. I only take jobs that get rid of bad people, anyways. The flyer for your job said you were demanding sacrifice as tribute to your horde. Not my fault they lied, but no harm done in the end.” He’d never told a lie with such sincerity. For a moment, Mercury almost believed it himself.

Yang looked away, her face twisted and sour. “There still must be another way… An appeal to the courts or…”

“You don’t get those in Mistral. Once they decide, it’s over.” He slid his arm over her shoulders, led her along the mountain path. “Come on, we’re still two days away from Kuchinashi, and I’d rather not campout up here.”

* * *

It’d been a hard few days. Higanbana. Wind Pass, The road in between. He could see it all weighing on her as he crawled into the tent next to her. Mercury stretched out on his back, waited for Yang to settle into her usual place against his side. He propped himself up on an arm when she didn’t move, head tilting curiously. “Yang?”

Her back was to him, her body curled tightly inward. The blankets that she usually kicked away were wrapped around her, up to her chin. “Mmm?”

“Are you… Is everything…” He sighed, reaching out and running a hand down her back over the blanket. “Come here.”

Slowly, reluctantly, she turned to him, scooted closer and pulled him into the blankets with her. Her face pressed to his chest, her warmth filling him, wrapping around him. Mercury settled his arms around her, held her close and stroked a hand down her back.

He’d sort of hoped she’d just get over it. Adjust to the life she’d agreed to join. He and Emerald had never hesitated with what Cinder offered them. Never thought twice about doing what she wanted them to. Mercury figured everyone was like that, designed to look out for number one… But the way Yang was reacting, what she’d said about Higanbana… It gave him second thoughts he wasn’t used to having.

Words of comfort had never been his strong suit. Words in general were iffy. Actions were a better plan for him, and Mercury chose those carefully, pulled Yang closer to himself and held her more securely. He finally felt her relax, felt her ease into him more, and lightly kissed the top of her head.

Things would get better when they got to Kuchinashi. When Emerald rejoined them. Maybe he could convince her to lie, to tell Yang that the bandits hadn’t used to tunnels after all. If it’d make her feel better…

A rustle outside pulled him back from the edge of sleep, his body tense, waiting for the sound to repeat. There was stillness, the wind lightly buffeting the tent canvas, crickets in the distance. Nothing that had a reason to draw his attention. After a time, Mercury settled back again, let himself ease into sleep.

He slid out from under Yang at sunrise, slipped out of the tent and crouched by the fire to rekindle the coals. Getting into town and getting some real food would be--

Mercury froze, staring across the small flames he’d built up. A single footprint in the dirt, a shoe… narrow, pointed, blank space before another indent. A heel.

He walked around the campfire and kicked dirt over the mark, looking around quickly. No other signs of their night time visitor. Inside the tent he could hear Yang stirring, took a moment to compose himself before she poked her head out. There was no reason to make her worry.

“Mmm… morning…” She sounded more herself in the sunlight and he felt the easy grin fall into place in response. “Makin’ breakfast?”

“Was just about to start. You want to come down to the river with me and check the nets?”

Yang nodded, ducking back into the tent momentarily, coming out with clothes on. Loosely on, her movements allowing him peeks of bare skin as they walked, soon filling his mind with thoughts of his hands on her, pushing away the concerns that single footprint had caused.

Down by the water she dropped the half-on dress, gave him a look over her shoulder before slipping into the currents. If the shock of cold bothered her, Yang didn’t show it, instead rinsing herself off as he hauled the fish net onto the shore. “You’re gonna get your clothes wet if you wear them back, you know.”

“What a shame.” Her absent comment held a different note and Mercury looked up from their catch, letting his eyes slowly and deliberately move up and down her bared body. “Guess I’ll have to go back naked.”

“Y’know, if you wanted that, you could have just asked.” She stepped from the river and he let her get him on the ground, let her soak his clothes as her body pressed tight to his.

There were worse ways to get a late start to the day.


	4. Kuchinashi: Upper Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t want to fight us,” the blond man spoke up, taking a step forward with his shield raised.
> 
> “You’re right.” With a slight flick of his wrist, the knife in his sleeve slid into his hand and he threw it, heard the shouts--three of surprise, one of pain. The unarmed man grasped his leg, his pants already staining red. Their careful formation broke as they turned to him, only the redhead’s eyes staying on him. “I wouldn’t call what I can do to you a fight.”

Golden eyes watched them pass, one hand curling around the tree she was currently crouched in. The silver-haired man and his Golden Half-Dragon companion… It matched the information she’d been given.

She dropped to the ground when they’d left the area, tracing their steps backwards to where they’d camped, down to the river and the flattened grass they’d spent most of the morning in. After finding them the night before she’d left, intended to come back in late morning and track them going forward. Nearly stumbling upon them being… intimate had been unexpected and while she was a professional, it had still thrown her. It changed the dynamic.

She’d track them for another few days… The only thing on the road ahead was Kuchinashi, a place she was familiar enough with. As long as they stayed on the road, she could follow without making herself known.

The silver-haired one she’d have to watch out for, he was observant. The footprint she’d left had been scuffed out with purpose, seen and covered, and it had to be him. The Golden Half-Dragon wasn’t nearly as experienced in the world.

* * *

That single footprint kept circling back to the front of his mind. If someone was good enough to sneak up on him, they were good enough not to leave a footprint. Which made it deliberate, which meant they were coming back to see if he noticed. And he did, so…

So nothing. So there was no sign of someone still after them, no noises in the night, no unexplained footprints in the dirt. The road to Kuchinashi was quiet, the only other people they’d seen since Wind Pass a merchant with a cart going the other way. They’d stopped to look through his wares, decided against buying them but given away information. Warned him what Higanbana had been through.

“Those damn bandits get bolder every day…” He’d brandished a sword from the seat of the cart, nodding. “I’ll be okay to pass through, I think.”

Nights were nice. Nights were Yang’s warm body pressed to him, her fingers trailing over his bare skin. Their lips on each other, bodies close, closer, closest in a tangle of blankets inside the tent. Daytime was spent walking, the long road to Kuchinashi. After crossing the river they’d had to retrace their steps on the opposite side, were just now finally climbing into the mountains that led to the city. The trees around them thinned to nothing, replaces with towering rocks and narrow paths. It was like where he’d found her and for the first time since Higanbana, Mercury missed Emerald.

Yang’s fingers traced over the rock formations, her claws careful not to dig in. She pressed her palm to it, closing her eyes and breathing slowly. “It’s so… cold.”

“It’s a rock.”

The look she gave him was enough to stop further sarcasm before it started. Her forehead pressed to the rock next to her palm, horns rubbing against it lightly. “It’s like nothing has ever lived here… or like… like something did, but then was taken away… Is this what my mountain feels like now?”

Mercury’s hand touched her shoulder lightly, sliding up her arm and pressing over her hand on the rock. “I don’t know.” He settled his fingers in the spaces between hers, curled them and gently pulled her away. “We can ask when we get to Kuchinashi, if you want answers.”

“Will they know?” Yang followed him away from the rock, up the steadily ascending path. 

“Maybe.” Kuchinashi was close, he’d rather get there than try to sleep in the mountains. A soft bed, a place where he could clean up, a filling meal… All of those things hurried his steps along toward the next peak. 

There were higher peaks around them, mostly inaccessible. Here the slope flattened out, spread out wide and allowed them to look around. Yang stepped up next to him, pushing her hair back behind her ear as the wind whipped around them. She wrapped her arms around herself, leaning into his chest. 

After a minute, Mercury took her hand, moved forward on the path and down the mountain. There was a bridge ahead, wide planks held up by old ropes leading over a gorge. He tested it lightly, eyes narrowed. Going around was going to add two days to their trip and the full moon was the next night. They didn’t have a choice.

“Hey, um, if you can fly and have been holding out on me, now’s a good time to…” He trailed off as Yang shook her head, snorting. “Didn’t think so. Okay, we’re gonna have to cross this bridge, so… let’s be careful with it, yeah?”

“Is this thing even going to hold our weight?” She touched a toe to the plank skeptically, yanking back as if it burned. 

“We’re… Going to hope so.” Mercury kept his hand on hers, stepping onto the bridge carefully. The first step seemed okay. The two of them moved carefully, away of the creaks and cracks, the sway of the bridge under their combined weight. Those late starts were biting them in the back now, but halfway across his confidence started to grow.

“How much do you want to bet there’ll be another bridge like, right down the road that isn’t a death trap?” Yang wondered, her hand squeezing his as a gust of wind rocked the bridge.

“Don’t even joke.” The far side seemed infinitely distant from them, every step testing the plank in front of him to make sure it wasn’t going to snap. Ten more steps. Nine more. Eight--

_ Crack _ ! Mercury tensed up, grabbing the rope with his feet hand, hoping Yang had done the same behind him. After a tense minute he tried the step again, waiting for it to give under his foot. “Careful.”

“Yeah…” Seven steps left. Six, five, four, three, two… Yang gasped as the bridge swung, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face to his back. Her feet moved forward blindly, aware of solid ground below her, rocks that wouldn’t creak or break under her weight.

“It’s okay… We’re on the other side. We did it.” Mercury settled his hands over hers, squeezing gently. “Come on,  _ now _ you’re scared?”

“I don’t ever wanna do that again.” Her voice was muffled in his back, her trembling slowly calming down until she let go. Finally, they continued on, down the meandering mountain path that led to Kuchinashi.

* * *

Paper lanterns lit up the dark valley, beacons in the night drawing them to the small city. Yang stopped still in the shadows, changed into her outfit from Higanbana and dripped a handful of drops of the potion onto her tongue. WIth her appearance more human and Mercury by her side they made their way into the quiet town, towards the inn. Tomorrow night would be a different matter, but for now…

It was crowded, rowdy groups of people at various tables. Mercury did the talking, secured them a room for the night and headed to it to change and clean up. He touched the numbers on the door on the way in, both of them stripping down and washing up once they were inside.

“Do you want to get dinner?” He offered, pulling on a somewhat cleaner shirt. “There’s places to eat besides downstairs.”

“Dinner might be a good idea.” Her stomach growled in agreement and Yang smiled sheepishly, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around him, kissing him slowly. “Then we can take a walk around town, yeah? The lanterns are so pretty.”

He nodded, his hands finding a place to rest on her hips, keeping her close. “We should enjoy it tonight. I’ll be… busy tomorrow night.”

“Busy.” Her eyes darkened for a moment, the flash of anger in them almost enough to overpower the potion. “Right.”

Cleaned up enough and dressed again they left the inn, meandered through town. The job he’d taken was cover enough for his meeting the next night, he didn’t need to tell her that he (probably) wasn’t killing anyone then. Mercury pushed the thoughts away, pushed away all of his thoughts except ones of Yang. The way her face glowed in the light of the lanterns, the way her hand grasped his as she led him place to place in the bustling city. Kuchinashi was safe enough on this upper ward, city guard stationed at busy streets, dark alleys kept to a minimum. Going down to the lower ward with her was out of the question, however. Alone he could watch his own back and blend in, but she’d draw far too much attention. Everywhere Yang went, people seemed drawn to her, calling to her from stalls and offering her samples. Was it something to do with the Dragon in her, even covered as it was by the potion? Or was it just her personality that seemed to warmly welcome everyone around her?

They got food from a street vendor, wandered into a park and sat down on a bench to eat. Nights in the valley were long, the mountains that surrounded them hiding the sun early and showing it late. People stayed out under the glowing lamps until the moon rose high in the sky, even children still running and playing nearby. It was peaceful. 

Yang sighed in content next to him, her head dropping to his shoulder, fingers closing around his and squeezing lightly. “Hey, Mercury…?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for… well, for putting up with me. I know I’m not…” She bit her lip, frowning at the ground in front of them. “The most  _ knowledgeable _ about the world, and it must be slowing you down to have to wait for me to figure stuff out, but--”

“You’re worth slowing down for.” He spoke without thinking, reached up and tilted her head to him, kissed her slowly. His hand brushed along her cheek slowly, pushing her hair back as he parted the kiss. “Having you here is showing me more of the world than I’d ever seen before. Showing me people and places as something more than obstacles. I like it.”

“I--”

“Mercury Black! Put your hands where we can see them!” The voice jerked them apart, Yang’s heart jumping into her throat with panic. The next words made her blood run cold. “You’re wanted for the murder of the Amber Dragon of Shion.”

Mercury moved away from Yang slowly, his hands raising into the air. He sighed in resignation, looking to the group of four that had surrounded them. Two women and two men. Two with shields, one with a spear and one with a sword. One unarmed, one with a truly unwieldy looking hammer. Not city guard, then. Either bounty hunters or… “Mistral Specials?” he guessed, standing up slowly, keeping his arms up. “And they sent four of you after little old me?”

“Mercury…?” Yang’s voice shook, her hand reaching out, touching his back. “What--”

“Stay behind me,” he hissed, not wanting to look away from the four to watch her reaction. The redhead with the shield seemed to be in charge, but that one with the hammer worried him most. She held it like it was nothing, despite its massive size.

“You don’t want to fight us,” the blond man spoke up, taking a step forward with his shield raised.

“You’re right.” With a slight flick of his wrist, the knife in his sleeve slid into his hand and he threw it, heard the shouts--three of surprise, one of pain. The unarmed man grasped his leg, his pants already staining red. Their careful formation broke as they turned to him, only the redhead’s eyes staying on him. “I wouldn’t call what I can do to you a fight.”

“Jaune, cover Ren, get him bandaged up. Nora, with me.” She stepped forward, blocked her torso with her shield. The blond fell back, the woman with the hammer moving up into his place. “We’d hoped you’d come quietly, but we hadn’t really expected someone like you to cooperate.”

There was something in the trees, no more than a moving shadow. Mercury pulled the knife from his side, his stance defensive, covering Yang behind him. He set his jaw, ready to fight, ready to kill. This wasn’t going to go over well with anyone, getting caught by a squad of Mistral Specials, killing the ‘good guys’ in front of Yang, but--

Something hit the ground between him and the group of four, a flash of blinding light and then smoke. A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him backwards, Yang behind him. “Come on! This way!”

He was still dizzy and disoriented, ran blindly behind whoever had grabbed him. He could hear Yang’s panting breaths and reached back to offer her his arm, felt her hand close around it. Further away, shouts of confusion, directions to search for them.

They finally stopped in a dim alley and Mercury grabbed their would-be savior, slamming her against the wall and putting a knife to her throat. “Who the hell are you?”

Her golden eyes shone in the dark, her face calm and collected despite the run, despite the blade threatening to paint the walls with her blood. “I’m the only chance you have of getting out of here.”

“How is that?”

“Because I’m the one that gets to tell Taiyang Xiao Long whether you kidnapped his daughter or not.”

Yang’s head jerked up, elbowing Mercury out of the way and staring at the girl pinned to the wall. “How do you know my father?”

The ears on top of her head twitched, her demeanor still calm, collected. She looked between them, her eyes darting to the alley’s opening. “He hired me to find you after you ran away from home.”

“Ran away…?” Mercury looked at Yang, accepting the short headshake she gave him. Don’t ask questions, fine. He’d done that to her enough. “What, so you’re a bounty hunter?”

“Of a sort. My name is Blake Belladonna, and if you don’t want to kill those Mistral Specials--and I’d really advise against it--then we need to leave. Now.”

Their choices were few, none good. Mercury looked to Yang with a shrug, stepping back and letting the black-haired girl push off the wall. When she ran they followed her, down deeper into the city, into the lower ward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna drop this here--some of you know this and some of you don't, but unlike a lot of my other longfic projects, this story is neither plotted out nor written in advance. My beta isn't looking over my shoulder pinching me for inconsistencies, either. So be a little kind if things are a bit hairy, it's all on my shoulders. <3


	5. Kuchinashi: Lower Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Midnight. Solstice Square. I see that you’ve abandoned your companion.” Pretense dropped for a moment, the narrow face leaning closer to him, golden eyes nearly glowing with intrigue. “Found a new one, perhaps?”
> 
> “You were there. You know what happened. Actually… I’m more surprised that you’re not lying dead at their feet.”

The lanterns of Kuchinashi faded behind them as they walked, replaced with dim glows of interior lights. Guards still manned main intersections, but most seemed there just to tell people ‘on your way’ rather than assist. 

Yang tucked her hair into the back of her dress, flipping her hood up. “Twenty minutes,” she whispered, taking Mercury’s hand again.

Twenty minutes, and they’d left everything back at the inn. If this Blake person didn’t get them where they needed to go soon, he’d risk running back there. Surely the Mistral Specials didn’t know where he was staying.

The building Blake finally stopped at was dark, seemed empty. She opened a door and led them inside, lighting a candle to illuminate the vacant room. A few dusty tables, some broken chairs, a stretch of bar with years of old stains on it. “Upstairs.”

Mildew reeked from the carpet as they climbed the stairs, thick dust puffing up around their feet. Yang covered her nose with a frown, making an effort not to breathe it in too deeply. Cities smelled bad as it was, but this was just unbearable.

Up another flight of stairs, a door opening to the roof. Blake blew out the candle once moonlight streamed in to guide their way, turning back to face them as Mercury shouldered the door shut. The mountains kept most of the winds out of the valley, the rocky cliffs closing in tighter on the lower ward. The stillness in the air held a note of impatience, too many questions unspoken in the silence.

“Who are you?” Blake finally asked, her finger pointing to Mercury’s chest. “And how did you find her?”

“Mercury Black. I’m a mercenary. There was a notice on a board outside of… One of the smaller cities down south. Go to this farming village, slay the dragon that was demanding tribute but producing nothing, get the dragon’s horde as payment. I took the job, but seeing she was a half-dragon, the whole… demanding tribute without producing anything clicked into place. I have an… associate who is half-fae, I know there’s limitations. So instead I offered to let her come with me, and she said yes.” He crossed his arms, leaning back on the doorway and looking to the blonde next to him. “Yang can confirm all of that.”

Her eyes were on the floor under her feet, arms wrapped around herself. “I just…” She looked up to Blake, jaw set with determination. “I’m not going back there. I  _ like _ traveling with Mercury and if you try to drag me back, I’m just going to run away again.” Her hand reached out, grabbing his.

“Lucky for you, I’m not here to do that. I mean, if you’d been kidnapped or something, sure, but…” She looked between them, shrugging. “I can send a message back that you’re okay. You should probably at least go visit.” Her eyes narrowed, focused on Mercury again. “What did the Mistral Specials want with you?”

“Depends on how much you heard.”

“I showed up about when you put a knife in that guy.”

He exhaled slowly, squeezing Yang’s hand. “Then don’t worry about it. It’s my problem, I’ll take care of it.”

One dark eyebrow rose with skepticism. “They aren’t exactly known for giving up. Or for going after small crimes. If whatever you did puts her in danger--”

“I can take care of myself.” Yang huffed as the other two snorted, stomping her foot. “My dad taught me how to fight!”

“Sorry, sorry…” Blake shook her head, waving it off. “It’s just… a weird thing to hear from someone who’s been described to me as basically a kidnapped princess. I’m sure you’re,” she giggled again, clamping a hand over her mouth and muffling her words, “fine on your own.”

Mercury considered it, his eyes tracking over Blake. Could he trust her? Not a chance. Could he trust Yang? So far, that hadn’t steered him wrong. “Actually… Mind giving us a moment?” He turned to Yang, pressing his mouth close to her ear, keeping his voice low. “I’ll explain what’s up with the Mistral Specials and everything later--I promise. But for now, having someone else to watch our backs might not be a bad idea. At least until we find Emerald again.”

“We don’t know her,” Yang said, “she claims my dad hired her to find me, but she could be lying. What if she does drag me back there?”

“Then you run away again, like you said. And I’ll come find you. Besides, it’s better to have her here with us than going back to your dad with the information and him sending someone who  _ will _ drag you back out to get you, right?” He reached up, brushing his fingers along her jaw gently. “We can use her and then ditch her.”

“Just so you know,” Blake’s voice carried across the rooftop, getting their attention. She pointed at the ears on top of her head. “I have really good hearing.”

Mercury sighed. “We have a room at the inn. Assuming it hasn’t been staked out, we should go back there to at least get our things. Or… I should go back there.” Twenty minutes, they had to be almost up. Soon Yang wouldn’t be able to pass among normal people. “So let’s show we all trust each other, hm? I’ll go back to the inn, get our stuff, and meet you two back here. Then we’ll figure out our next move.”

“If you’re being hunted down by Mistral Specials, we should leave Kuchinashi.”

He looked up at the sky, the almost-full moon. After tomorrow night, things would be different. Whatever was coming, it was going to change any plans they tried to make. “We can avoid them for one more night. I have a job to do down here. You know the lower ward well?” Blake nodded. “We meet outside the Brethel Bren in one hour.” He heard Yang inhale sharply next to him, hoped Blake wouldn’t notice.

“Brethel Bren, got it.”

Mercury turned to Yang, leaned in and kissed her slowly. “It’ll be fine,” he whispered against her lips, feeling her arms tighten around him, her claws dig into his skin through his shirt. He ran his hands down her body, smoothed the silks against her skin. “I’ll come back soon.”

“You better.” She kissed him again, held his face between her warm hands for a moment before letting go, crossing the rooftop to stand beside Blake. “One hour. Don’t be late, Mercury.”

* * *

One hour. Yang rubbed her arm, staying back in the shadowed alley next to Blake and watching the entrance of the tavern. She could guess why he’d picked it, tried not to dwell on those thoughts. There were bigger problems than whatever had happened at Wind Pass. Like the Mistral Specials… and what they’d accused him of.

There were hundreds of other questions in her head, about Blake, about her father, about home… None of them seemed like the right conversation to have now. Standing around in silence was almost worse, though. It felt like it had been an eternity of just standing and waiting, she had to say  _ something _ .

“Are you… from Mistral? Or Vale? Or…” Her eyes darted to the ears on top of Blake’s head.

“Menagerie. But I’ve lived in Vale for a while… Doing…” She shrugged quickly. “Jobs.”

“Oh.” Yang moved a bit closer, her hand brushing the other girl’s arm. “Listen, about… going back. I just… don’t want to yet. There’s a lot of reasons I left and yeah, not all of them were good, but until I’m ready to go back, I’d rather just… stay out here.” Until she had the answers she was looking for. No matter how long it took to find them.

“My job was to find you, not to ask why you left.” Her gaze darted to the door as it opened, a slight step backwards into the shadows of the alley as someone staggered past. Blake’s voice was low, barely a whisper in Yang’s ear. “It’s been an hour.”

“Good thing I’m not late.” Mercury’s voice behind them made both girls jump, his hand touching Yang’s arm. “No one was watching the inn, but probably better to stay in the lower ward. It’s easier to disappear here.”

“I have a place we can stay where they don’t talk to guards.” Blake waved a hand, leading them away from the tavern, through the narrow alleys to a dimly lit building. Shabby and run down like a lot of the places in the lower ward, small groups at tables with pints in front of them. 

The room was narrow, musty, a single small bed in the middle of it. Mercury dropped the bags to the floor, dropping himself against the door and closing his eyes. “Okay… So…” They needed a plan, some sort of plan or idea or… anything, really. “I have a meeting tomorrow night. After that, we can go. For now…” He crossed the room slowly, looked between the two of them and the single bed. “Sleep?”

“Sleep,” Yang agreed, unabashedly stripping down, crawling into the bed. 

Mercury watched Blake’s face as her cheeks turned bright red and shrugged. “Trust me, you don’t wanna wear much sleeping next to her, either.” He pulled his shirt off and kicked his shoes to the corner, joining Yang in bed. Blake nodded slowly, settling herself onto Yang’s other side, her body tensing as Yang turned and wrapped her arms around the other girl. “Also, she’s a cuddler.” Mercury snickered, rolling over and pressing himself to Yang’s back, wrapping his arms around her.

Sunrise came late in the lower ward, finally stirring the three of them from sleep with rumbling stomachs. Yang yawned, pressing her face to the warm chest below her, mumbling. “Food…”

“Um, that’s not… exactly breakfast...” Blake whispered above her, her face flushed. The cuddling she’d gotten used to, but the way Yang was pressing against her now…

Mercury snickered, pulling Yang off her and running a hand up her side slowly. “C’mon, blondie, don’t harass the bounty hunter.” He moved his arm slightly, feeling bare skin and frowning. Had Blake gotten undressed in the middle of the night? His hand moved up curiously, finally finding cloth, Blake’s shirt bunched up to leave her entire stomach exposed.

“Are you, um, having fun?”

“Oh, sorry.” He pulled back, eyes on her as she stood from the bed and stretched, her shirt dropping back down her body. Pants had been abandoned before she’d gotten into bed, long legs bare and Mercury found his eyes trailing down them before Blake pulled her pants on and left the room.

“So… she’s really hot,” Yang whispered, her hand trailing down his torso, touching him lightly. “Seems like you think so, too.”

“Be nice.” He swatted her hand lightly, sliding out of bed and going for his shoes and shirt. “Come on, you’re the one that was whining about being hungry.”

“Wasn’t whining… You two should just bring me breakfast in bed…” Yang stretched out, pushing the sheets aside and giving him a low-lidded look. “Or you could eat something else…”

“I’m still here!” Blake’s voice called, making both of them jump.

Mercury snickered, tossing Yang’s bag onto the bed with her. “Come on, real food, then we’ll worry about the rest of the day. But keep that offer on the table, hm?”

* * *

“Well… if you’re sure…” Yang hesitated, looking between Mercury and Blake. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust either of them, but… she could guess why Mercury wanted to be alone, and why he wanted her to stay with Blake. “I  _ did _ want to look at something in the shops while we were here…”

“Go. I’ll be fine down here, and the Mistral Specials aren’t going to be looking for the two of you. I have… enough to occupy my time.” The look he shared with Yang was knowing and that, more than anything, pushed her decision.

“Be safe.” She stepped closer, kissed him lightly before walking away, grabbing Blake’s arm. “Come on, we’ll let him take care of his own business. Can you tell me more about Menagerie? I’ve never met anyone from there.”

Mercury watched them go, a smile tugging at his lips. It’d been a point of concern the night before, Yang’s infectious charm drawing too much attention, but now… If it kept Blake on their side and wrapped around Yang’s finger, he’d use it to his advantage. He armed himself with knives, tucked them away and smoothed his clothes over them. Nondescript, just another man in Kuchinashi’s lower ward going to the bar.

The Brethel Bren was quieter with the sun up, only a few patrons milling about. He hadn’t gotten much more than a glance the night before, took the time now to really stake out his target’s hangout. He still didn’t know what time the meeting that night was, or where… There wouldn’t be time to make this job look like an accident. That was fine. The coin wasn’t his primary objective.

He let himself into the building after circling it a few times, ordered a drink at the bar and found a table near the back. Information had a way of finding him when he made himself available.

Mercury was about ready to stop being available when someone joined him at the table, quick hands moving across the surface. “Still following the winds west?”

“They’ve stilled for the moment. Or so I’ve been told.” He took a slow drink, looking the man next to him up and down slowly. “I’m waiting for them to tell me when and where.”

“Midnight. Solstice Square. I see that you’ve abandoned your companion.” Pretense dropped for a moment, the narrow face leaning closer to him, golden eyes nearly glowing with intrigue. “Found a new one, perhaps?”

“You were there. You know what happened. Actually… I’m more surprised that you’re not lying dead at their feet.” Making Tyrian draw back in shock was worth whatever petty revenge the man would enact later. “She’ll be here or she won’t. She knows when and where, if not exactly.”

“Given how she doted over Cinder…” He took a drink of his own, more relaxed for the moment. “I’m pretty sure she’s incapable of dying without seeing her again.”

“Does that mean--”

Tyrian’s mood snapped back to nervous, his eyes darting around the room. “I only know what they tell me. And you only know what you need to.”

“Yeah, yeah. Beat it, I have a job to do before midnight.” Mercury watched him go, thoughtful. Was Cinder back? Was she ever coming back? After what the Amber Dragon had done to her… He shivered involuntarily. Death would have been kinder.

His target came in with a bang and Mercury watched him, counted the time in drinks. At four drinks he stood up to take a piss, staggered his way to the back door. Mercury followed, the knife dropping from his arm holster. He plunged it into the man’s neck in the back alley, yanked it back and wiped the blood on the man’s shirt as he let out a gurgling gasp.

“Pathetic.” He dipped his fingers in the blood, drew quickly onto the alley wall, a W with an arrow circled around it. Word would get back to Wind Pass and his money would wait for him.

The moon was high in the sky, painting everything silver, casting deeper shadows into the night as Mercury made his way to the upper ward, consulting mental maps for Solstice Square.

* * *

“Can you hear him?” Yang hissed beside her, pulling back as gold eyes turned a glare on her.

“Not if you’re talking,” Blake whispered back, waving her to shush, the ears atop her head twitching.

It’d taken Yang approximately two minutes to convince Blake that one, Mercury was up to something and two, they needed to follow him. Reluctant as she was to get into the mess, Blake had led Yang after her companion, kept a prudent distance to not be noticed. She was a tracker, and while Yang was far from the quietest, she could follow along well enough.

One hour sitting outside the Brethel Bren had her patience wearing thin, however. Mercury sat near the back and she’d pressed herself against the outside wall, tried to listen through the stone and wood to anything he had to say. Silence. The occasional comment to the waitress to request another drink. Absolute, total silence--

Until someone else had sat down, spoken some strange code phrase and then divulged information. Blake strained to listen,  _ midnight, Solstice Square, companion… Cinder...  _ Nothing that meant anything to her, but she relayed as much of the conversation as she’d caught to Yang.

“Emerald,” the blonde half-dragon nodded, looking over her shoulder. “We should go. I want to be there when whatever happens… happens, but if it’s nothing, then I want to make it look like we actually went shopping today.” Her hand found Blake’s, tugging her along gently, away from the tavern. No need to mention that if Mercury intended to do his job from Wind Pass, she didn’t want to be anywhere near it. 

The item she’d wanted was exactly where she’d hoped it would be, a pair of gauntlets with a dusting of golden dragon scales, lined in red, black claws tipping them. More aesthetic than practical, but she was sure that they’d be assisted by her own abilities. Blake admired them for a moment as Yang slid them on, running her fingers over the other girl’s wrist slowly.

“They’re… pretty nice,” she finally allowed, looking up to meet Yang’s eyes. She’d taken the potion that morning, had it with her in case she needed it, and Blake met those purple eyes steadily. “Red’s definitely your color.”

“You think so? I think I’ll get them.” She turned to the shopkeeper with a grin, exchanging coins for the gauntlets, flexing her fingers against them. “Can’t wait to show these to Mercury. He’s gonna be so jealous.”

Midnight was approaching fast and while Blake new her way around the lower ward, the upper was less familiar. Solstice Square was likely to be near the center of the city, instinct said, meant to celebrate the Solstice, a time when the city would see more sun than shadow. She and Yang wove through the night time crowds, coming upon the square from an alley, hanging back.

It was empty, a wide place with a fountain in the middle. They stuck to the shadows, stayed quiet as a distance clock began to chime the hour. Nine… ten… eleven… twelve.

The world around them seemed to hold its breath, before a lone figure stepped into the square. “Mercury. Emerald.” Her voice rang out, carrying across the stillness, her eyes darting to every alley entrance, seeming to see into every one with perfect clarity. “And our other companions, why don’t you join us as well? Now.”

The command left little room for disagreement, drawing them forward. Blake kept her hand firmly on Yang’s arm as they entered the square, saw others doing the same--Mercury, a green-haired girl, the four Mistral Specials from the night before. 

“Quite a turn out for my debut… Now, I wonder…” Her left arm lifted, pointing towards Yang, slowly tracking around the square to each person. “Which of you would like to show my companions what I can do?”

The redhead Mistral Special stepped forward, her spear and shield raised. “Are you Cinder Fall?”

“I am.”

“You’re wanted for the murder of the Amber Dragon of Shion.”

Cinder’s smile grew, her chin tilting up haughtily. “Thanks for volunteering.”

What shot from her arm and hit the girl’s shield wasn’t human. It wasn’t anything Blake had seen before and she heard gasps echo around the square. One voice, small but distinct, spoke from across the way, the green-haired girl. “Grimm.”


	6. Interlude: A Thief in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lone bird circled above and she pushed herself towards it, took its conscious as her own and looked down--
> 
> A sharp bolt of pain speared through her head and she bit her hand to keep from screaming, her eyes once more seeing only the alley around her.

“ _ Run! _ ” She screamed to the wall, turning her back to it, hands itching for her blades. As long as they had time to get away, she could take care of herself.

The men closed in on her slowly and Emerald exhaled to steady herself, pulled her weapons from her back and looked between the two of them. She pressed lightly, aware of how tired she still was, of how hard pushing two minds was for her. If she could just…

“Trying to run?” The one on her left asked, his gaze turning to the side, following the illusion she’d sent fleeing. She grabbed him harder, kept his focus on the imaginary form of her retreating back as her real form stepped forward. The man on the right was staring at his companion in confusion as he drew back his bow and shot an arrow into nothingness.

She struck quickly, first that one that hadn’t been tricked, a stab between the ribs. His fault for getting distracted. Her next puncture downed the man with the bow and she kicked it away from him, turned and ran. Getting out of the city was priority, meeting up with Mercury in Kuchinashi.

The streets were near empty, bandits that roamed that easy to avoid. Emerald tucked herself into a darker corner, took a deep breath and sent her mind searching. A lone bird circled above and she pushed herself towards it, took its conscious as her own and looked down--

A sharp bolt of pain speared through her head and she bit her hand to keep from screaming, her eyes once more seeing only the alley around her. Something tacky ran out of her ear and she wiped it away impatiently, aware of the smell of blood, more pressed by what had just happened.

No animal had ever refused her entry to its mind before, no bird ever fought back against her using its consciousness to get a better look at a situation. “What the hell was that?” She hissed, breathing ragged. She’d pushed herself too hard, her best bet was to hole up somewhere secret and wait it out.

“This way!” A voice hissed and Emerald’s head shot up, her eyes wide.

“Tyrian?”

“Come on, stupid.” He grabbed her arm, yanked her through the narrow alleys of Higanbana. Emerald followed almost blind, her pounding head forcing priority over everything else.

When Tyrian let go she fell to the ground, breathing harshly. “What… where…?”

“I got you out of the city. Everything else, you’re on your own.” He looked back, frowning. “What happened to your companion?”

Emerald coughed, sitting up slowly and rubbing her temples. She needed sleep… “He got out earlier. We’re going to meet up in Kuchinashi.” She looked up, more questions on her tongue--most pressing, why had he saved her?--to see only empty space.

With a groan, the half-fae dropped back to the ground, pressing herself into the old tree she’d fallen against and letting the forest have her. It’d protect her from the bandits, fade her from their minds, their sight… Assuming it’d still have her at all, that was.

* * *

Kuchinashi was in the mountains, not quite high in the peaks but still a decent hike up. Emerald considered her options as she stood at the bank of the river, her eyes on the hazy mountains. Going straight there would be best, but--

Oh… right, Mercury wasn’t with her. She actually  _ could _ just swim across the river and make a beeline for the town. That would probably be the best option… if it wasn’t open plains between where she was and where she wanted to go. There was another forest at the base of the mountain, sure, but that was still at least a day’s walk completely exposed.

Emerald bit her lip, indecision holding her still. She looked to the water as if it’d answer for her, taking a slow step back to the forest. Better to stay where it was familiar, to keep herself under the protection of the trees.

_ Full moon. Direct orders. It could be Cinder. _

Taking a breath, she waded into the water, shivering as it rose from her ankles to her knees to her hips. Swimming would be easier in such deep water, but the risk of getting her backpack wet outweighed the speed. 

Get to Kuchinashi. Rest there. Figure out what the hell had happened in Higanbana.

See what the full moon had in store.

Her path was set before her and Emerald followed it, watching those peaks grow closer with every step.

* * *

The room at the inn was safe. She had to keep telling herself that as she laid in the inn, finally allowing the pounding headache to catch up with her. Room number twenty-two was safe.

Emerald closed her eyes, reaching up and slowly running her fingers over the necklace she wore--the only thing she wore, currently. Clothing was too restricting for what she needed to do. Her fingers stroked the small piece of petrified wood that hung from the gold chain, lightly touching the glass in the middle. There was barely a drop of water in that little vial, but just feeling it against her skin through the glass was enough to take the worst of it off.

After a few minutes, her mind traveled backwards, over the last days, into Higanbana. She moved her memory forward slowly, consciously, repeating the moment she’d tried to take the bird’s consciousness. The bolt of pain left her trembling on the edge between reality and memory, before she sank in again. Reverse. Repeat. Try to figure it out.

_ Get out! _

Emerald sat up with a gasp, sweat beading on her brow, her chest heaving. Animals didn’t use words for communication. Not a single one ever had. If they spoke to her, it was with something else, something she couldn’t understand.

She clutched the charm in her fist for a moment, feeling her pounding headache return. Sleep it off. The full moon was tomorrow night and whatever happened, she’d need to be at her best.

Sleep it off.

* * *

Mercury met her just outside the courtyard, almost midnight. He nodded briefly, looking towards the open square. Neither of them were quite willing to walk in, quite willing to give away their shadowed position with conversation.

His hand touched her arm gently and she shrugged him off before nudging her hip into his.  _ Are you okay? _ and  _ Leave me alone, I’m fine _ spoken without opening their mouths. One benefit of traveling with the same person for so long.

Her heart swelled in her chest as someone stepped into the courtyard, a flowing red dress in the moonlight, hair like the midnight hour itself. Emerald took a step forward, her pace quickening as she was called. It was Cinder, Cinder was back just like she’d promised. She knew that Amber Dragon wouldn’t kill her.

“And our other companions, why don’t you join us as well? Now.”

The words surprised her, Emerald’s eyes narrowing as six others stepped into the square. A group of four and a separate pair--was that Yang?

“Quite a turn out for my debut… Now, I wonder…” Cinder lifted her left arm, slowly pointing it to each of the six interlopers. “Which of you would like to show my companions what I can do?”

From the group of four, a redhead stepped forward, lifting a shield and a spear. “Are you Cinder Fall?”

“I am.”

Her voice remained steady, authoritative. Emerald fought the urge to run from it. It was the voice of every town guard that had ever accused her of stealing and it was  _ right _ . “You’re wanted for the murder of the Amber Dragon of Shion.”

Cinder smiled widely, her chin tilting up haughtily. “Thanks for volunteering.”

Something shot from Cinder’s left arm, tore the sleeve of her dress away to reveal where it met her shoulder. It struck the girl’s shield and drove her back a step, pulsated with a deep blackness that Emerald knew in her heart more than her mind. She gasped, her voice small and weak, unable to be silenced. “Grimm.”


	7. Grimm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did they really kill the Amber Dragon of Shion?”
> 
> “They did. About two months ago. Shion hasn’t been the same since… Nowhere has.”

The stillness in the square held for a beat, Cinder’s arm against the redhead girl’s shield. Yang raised her arms and Blake pulled a weapon from her side. Across the square Mercury and Emerald tensed, ready to attack. Behind the redhead the rest of her team tensed, prepared to run in.

Cinder’s arm yanked back to her side, broke the stillness. Mercury and Emerald exchanged a look, a nod, ran forward in front of Cinder as the rest of the Mistral Specials stepped up. Yang hesitated between the two groups, glancing at Blake.

She wanted to go to Mercury. She wanted to stand by him, but this… this _thing_ that the woman, Cinder, had… it was wrong. It was nothing that she could explain but just seeing it filled her with dread.

“Pyrrha!” The blond Mistral Special with the shield and sword ran forward and Mercury advanced, met his shield with a solid kick and sent him back.

Inky blackness as Cinder’s arm shot past him, a chill in the air as it grabbed for the unarmed Mistral Special. Cinder let out a shriek, pulling back, her attention snapping to the side. Blake stood steady, just in front of Yang, her gun still aimed at Cinder.

“So many of you, so eager to taste death…”

“If you want to kill anyone, you’ll have to get through me.”

“Through us.” Yang’s voice joined Blake’s, stepping up next to her. She raised her arms, held the gauntlets in front of her.

“Yang…” Mercury grunted as the blond elbowed him, stumbled back a step. Emerald caught him before he could fall, looking around the crowd.

“Six on three,” she whispered, letting go once Mercury had his balance back. “Fall back?”

“Do what Cinder says.”

Cinder turned slowly, looked from Blake and Yang to the Mistral Specials. They’d reformed, tightened their defense, surrounded the unarmed one. She smiled, dropped to one knee and plunged her arm into the ground.

Rock cracked apart as it raced under the stones, straight towards the Mistral Specials. Their shields couldn’t defend them from below, not all four of them at once.

Claws ripped into the redhead, spilled blood and brought her to her knees. The ground shook and cracked, screams echoing around the square.

Perhaps the loudest was Yang’s, her body moving on its own, charging towards Cinder. Her hair glowed like fire, lit the square around them in brilliant gold that made the black-haired woman shriek, pulled her arm back from its grip on the redhead so she could shield herself.

The punch Yang landed sent her to the ground and Mercury bolted, put himself between the two of them. He met Yang’s eyes, blazing red, brighter than he’d ever seen. “Don’t,” he whispered, feeling the heat of her, the intent. Emerald knelt down by Cinder behind him, tucked her arms under the unconscious woman’s armpits and began to drag her away.

“Mercury.”

The fire extinguished in Yang’s eyes and she turned, fists clenching at her sides. When she turned back to him, she seemed calmer, hesitant. Her gaze darted to the Mistral Specials, gathered around their fallen comrade. “You lied to me.”

“Mercury, we have to go.” Emerald’s voice, more urgent, pulling him back.

He hesitated between them, before turning on his heel, joining Emerald in pulling Cinder away.

Blake crossed the square, knelt down by the small group and pulled bandages from her pack. “Here, this might--” She gasped sharply, looking away. Bandages wouldn’t do anything.

Yang watched Mercury retreat with Emerald and the other woman, biting her lip. She wanted to go after him, demand answers, demand to know… She turned to the others, crossed the square and knelt down next to Blake. “What can we do?”

“Nothing.” The unarmed man spoke up, reaching down and closing the redhead girl’s eyes. “She…” His voice shook, words falling apart. Next to him the girl with the hammer punched the ground. The blond boy looked away, gritting his teeth.

“I’m sorry…” Blake’s voice was low, her eyes on the ground. “We… We’ll leave you alone.” She stood with Yang, started to cross out of the square.

“Wait.” The blond, his voice trembling, eyes watering. He wiped a hand across his face, looking at them with his jaw set. “Do you know what that was? We… We’ve never seen anything like that, and…”

“Grimm,” Blake answered. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s what the green-haired girl said when she saw it.”

“The green-haired girl, she’s half-fae…” Yang offered, trying to remember anything she’d learned about that world. There wasn’t much, most fae kept to themselves. “Did they really kill the Amber Dragon of Shion?”

“They did. About two months ago. Shion hasn’t been the same since… Nowhere has.”

“Is that why these mountains feel so empty?” Her fists clenched, her eyes narrowing slightly. Mercury had _lied_ to her, lied about who he was, what he’d done… She’d never forgive him.

“It could be. Kuchinashi had a dragon a long time ago, but its presence faded recently.”

“What kind of dragon?”

The blond looked over his shoulder for a moment, hesitant. He turned back to her, assessed her slowly before nodding. “Vale has its Golden Beacon, Atlas its Platinum Wiseman… in Vacuo there’s the Dune Dragon, supposedly. But Mistral… In Mistral, the legend was of four dragons. The Amber Dragon of Shion, the White Dragon of Haven, the Blue Dragon of Kuroyuri… and the Black Dragon of Kuchinashi. Forces that were balanced together, opposing but not overpowering. With one of them gone… Things are wrong now. That’s all I really know.”

“It’s enough. Thank you.” She nodded, letting him go back to his companions. Yang turned to Blake, exhaling slowly. “We should… go back to Vale. To my father. He might know more about this.”

“You don’t want to go after them?” Blake looked towards the moon, the ears on top of her head twitching. “We might be able to catch them still.”

“No… Let them run. Some things are more important than finishing a fight, right?” She stretched out, her eyes following the alleyway that Mercury and his friends had left down. “Answers are more important than battles.”

Blake turned to her, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “What’s with the philosophical mindset all of a sudden?”

“Something he said… About the dragons… I just need to know more, and my dad will know.”

* * *

Cinder was waking up slowly so they paused, Mercury and Emerald each getting under one of her arms, him on the left and her on the right. They helped her walk away, exchanging looks over her lolling head. What had happened? What had happened in the eastern mountains to do _this_ to her?

Nowhere in the city was really safe, but travel was also out of the question until Cinder recovered full consciousness. They finally set her down to rest behind one of the midnight-empty market stalls, dropping to the ground across from her and speaking quietly.

“What _is_ that?” Mercury hissed, gesturing to Cinder’s arm. “It’s ice cold…”

“Grimm…” Emerald wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. “It’s… an opposition force to the Fae. Just as old… Just as powerful.” She swallowed, brushing her fingers against the front of her shirt, touching her necklace through the cloth. “But where Fae want to see the world covered in green, they want to see it bathed in red. That’s what I was told, anyways. We’re both bad from a human perspective, but they’re a lot more… active. I don’t know how she… how she even could…” Her eyes closed, hands lifting, palms pressing against her temples. “What did we do?”

“Nothing that we can take back. What about what Yang did? Is that something you’ve ever heard of a half-dragon being able to do?” He tilted his head back, looking up at the moon over the mountains. “The way she was glowing… it looked more like fire…”

“I have no idea…”

They both sighed, slowly turning their attention back to Cinder. She was stirring, her right hand clutching against the floor. Mercury moved over carefully when her eyes opened, helped her sit upright. “Can you walk?”

“Mmm… yeah…”

“We need to get out of Kuchinashi.”

Her fist clenched, slammed into the floorboards. “Not before we kill the Black Dragon.”

“It’s already gone.”

“ _What_?” Two voices, two hissed questions.

Mercury sat back slightly, looking between Cinder and Emerald. “Yang--the blonde girl--is a half-dragon. She can… feel that sorta stuff, I guess? And I noticed it, too, when we were coming here through the mountain pass. There’s no sign of a dragon of any kind having been here in a long time. Wherever the Black Dragon is, it isn’t here.” He shrugged, silence falling as they considered their options.

The Blue Dragon of Kuroyuri had disappeared long before they’d started this, left a ruin in its wake. The White Dragon of Haven was too well-guarded for a direct attack to be wise. Kuchinashi’s Black Dragon was supposed to be their next target, meant to draw out either the Blue or White Dragon. And if it hadn’t worked....

“Atlas,” Emerald whispered, inching forward to sit by Cinder’s side. “The Platinum Dragon in Atlas is what’s next, isn’t it?”

“No… She’s changed her mind. We’re going to Vale… Going after the Golden Beacon.” Cinder reached up, brushed Emerald’s hair back lightly. “We don’t need all four from Mistral, and this…” Her left fist clenched for a moment, “this is powerful enough to take down anything.”

“I…” Emerald hesitated, before nodding. “Right. We’ll head for Vale. Find the Golden Beacon and destroy it. And then… see what’s next.”

Beside them, Mercury nodded slowly. The Golden Beacon. Yang’s dad. He could do this. He could… He could ask Emerald more about the Grimm later. Just in case they _couldn’t_ do ths.


	8. Shining Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What else did you learn about Mistral?”
> 
> Yang frowned, thinking back on her days. On what Mercury had told her. “The mines... The mountains to the north were settled by an ancient Amber Dragon who filled the mines with ore and taught the people how to find it. And Kuroyuri..."

She tried to steady her breathing, walking slowly, one hand trailing lightly along the wall. It’d been so long since she’d wandered these caverns, could she even call them home anymore? And the way she’d left, snuck off in the middle of the night without a word… After a stupid, childish fight. Yang paused her steps, pressing her hand more firmly to the rock. Something was coming.

The footsteps grew audible, rapid, running to her. She tensed, heard Blake reaching for weapons behind her, before a blur of black and red rounded the corner and threw itself at her.

“Yang!”

“Ruby!”

The sisters embraced, Ruby’s head pressing to Yang’s chest, Yang burying her face in her younger sister’s hair. They held on tight, only pulling back when Ruby began to make noises about not being able to breathe. Slowly they let each other go, stepping back, eyeing each other.

She’d grown up, Yang noticed, no longer quite having to look down at her baby sister. Taller, carrying herself with more maturity, but her face was still round, her eyes still bright with alternating hope and mischief.

“You got…” Ruby trailed off, reaching up and gently brushing Yang’s hair back over her shoulders. “You look like a grown-up now.”

“Oh, and you don’t? Since when is my baby sister allowed to get so big?” The blonde grinned, pulling Ruby into another quick hug. She stepped back after a moment, looking down the hall that Ruby had come sprinting down. “It… it’s good to be back, though.”

“I’m glad you’re home.” Silver eyes tracked past her finally, landed on Blake. “Oh! You’re… um… Belladonna… Blake Belladonna, right? One of the…” She trailed off, looking to Yang and then Blake. “One of the people Dad asked to… keep an eye out… for Yang and um… Tell her to come home if she wanted to?”

“Yes, I’m one of the bounty hunters. Yes, Yang knows that… and yes, I’m Blake Belladonna.” Blake smiled, stepping forward and giving Ruby a short nod. “Things have changed since I was hired. A lot of things.”

Yang swallowed, watching the hallway. So sign of her dad so far… Would he even want her back? Sure he’d sent a bounty hunter after her, but… “Is Dad here?”

“Yeah, he… he’s in a meeting right now.” Ruby bit her lip, looking away. “With Uncle Qrow and Ozpin.” Her fingers poked together in front of her chest, eyes on Yang’s feet. “I might have been, um, listening before I heard you coming. It’s serious.”

Yang exchanged a look with Blake, concern drawing her eyebrows together. “What’s it about?”

“The Protectors of Mistral? I dunno exactly, but Uncle Qrow was yelling… a lot. And he, um… Well, he was talking about…” Ruby’s voice had trailed into almost nothing and Yang strained forward to hear her. “About Raven.”

“Well… crap.” Yang reached up, rubbing her temples. “In that case, I better go make myself known. If this is what I think it is… I have information, too.”

* * *

“For a Shining Beacon of Gold, this place is awfully…” Emerald flipped through the billfold she’d taken, frowning. “Lacking in gold.”

“It’s Vale,” Cinder’s voice trailed back to them, a glance over her shoulder not pausing her steps. “They don’t use the same currency as Mistral. Those cards in there,  _ that’s _ their money.”

“What, these things?” Emerald held one up, turning it in her hand. “That’s dumb. How do they know how much they have?”

“Everyone’s rich enough not to care?” Mercury guessed, plucking the card from Emerald’s fingers and looking it over. “They had something like this in Atlas, too… but it would show you how much you had on the card.”

“Atlesian systems are also based on credits, not reserves. It… look, it’s complicated. Just don’t steal those cards. People keep a close eye on them and we want to avoid unnecessary attention.” Cinder turned a corner, her voice calling back. “Keep up, you two.”

Emerald shrugged, tossing the billfold and card aside. Mercury caught her arm before she could step, one eyebrow raising curiously. “Did you decide?”

“No. Not yet. And we’re not talking about it now.” She pulled away from him, strode after Cinder with purpose and settled on her right side. Mercury kept himself back a step, eyes on Cinder’s back. 

He was just human. Purely human with nothing special about him. Sure, he could fight. Sure, he had a few surprises up his sleeve that even gave him advantages against others. But in the end, he was only a human. What use did someone like Cinder have for him? For that matter, what use did  _ she _ have for him? This mysterious woman, stronger than a witch, who had sent Cinder out with this job. The woman who had Tyrian tracking them in Mistral, who had Watts custom making him advanced prosthetic legs, who had given Cinder an arm from another world.

With such tools at her disposal and such people under her command, did she really need a mere human around?

How long until there was a target on his back?

Mercury kept his thoughts to himself, falling in step on Cinder’s left and watching the streets. They were definitely in a seedier part of town, something that almost reminded him of the Mistral underground with an extra layer of polish on it.

“Roman Torchwick…” Cinder whispered, stopping outside a large building. Just a warehouse, from the look of it, but the air around it… She stepped to side door, opening it up and letting herself in. “He’ll be our… escort around Vale.”

* * *

The low voices on the other side of the door gave her pause, straining to listen for a good opportunity to make herself known. Well, that was going to be her excuse for eavesdropping, at least. 

“Ruby, I can hear you out there!” Her father’s voice, filling her with warmth and shame at being caught, before she snickered.

“You better get your ears checked, then, old man. It’s not Ruby.” Yang stepped into the room, taking a breath and looking between the three men there. Her father. Her uncle. Ozpin. “Um, hi. I… I’m home.”

“Yang…” Her father stood, slowly crossed the room. He was intimidating, still, maybe moreso after so long away. But as he got closer his features softened and her heart jolted. He looked so  _ tired _ . Had he looked like that when she was a kid? Taiyang enveloped her in his arms, squeezed tight and pressed his face into the top of her head. “Welcome home.”

“Good to see you back, Firecracker.” Her uncle’s voice from across the room pulled her out of her father’s arms, a short nod between them. “How was Mistral?”

“Well, that… um, that’s why I’m here…” She joined the three men at the table, sitting down and looking over what they had there. A map, markings on it… Towns. Yang closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. “Bandits attacked Higanbana. Used the tunnels to get in. And in Kuchinashi…”

“We heard about Kuchinashi,” Ozpin leaned forward, pointing to the map. “Lionheart informed me himself, actually… And about the Amber Dragon of Shion. Do you know about any of the others?”

“The Black Dragon of Kuchinashi is gone. Those mountains are just… just rocks. There’s nothing living in them. Feels like there hasn’t been for a long time.” Looks exchanged between her father and her uncle, over her head. “I know who killed the Amber Dragon of Shion, though. And…” Yang look a breath, looking up. “And it’s not good. Have any of you ever heard of Grimm?”

Taiyang shrugged, but Qrow and Ozpin both nodded. “I had my suspicions… It takes a lot to take out a guardian, after all.” He took a drink from his cup, pointing at the map. “You’re right that there was the Amber Dragon of Shion, but Kuchinashi never had a dragon.” She opened her mouth to protest and he smiled, continuing. “We just let people think that. When you’re balancing forces, you don’t want to give all the power to one side. What else did you learn about Mistral?”

Yang frowned, thinking back on her days. On what Mercury had told her. “The mines… The mountains to the north were settled by an ancient Amber Dragon who filled the mines with ore and taught the people how to find it. And Kuroyuri…” She scanned, spotting the town name. “It has a Blue Dragon, here on the water… Haven has a White Dragon and Kuchinashi has… had… a Black Dragon.” Her eyes narrowed, studying the map. “How high up the mountain is Haven?”

“High enough to spend most of its time in the sunlight.” Ozpin nodded slowly, pointing to Kuchinashi. “Quite the opposite of this valley shrouded in night, wouldn’t you say?”

“Shion in the mountains… Kuroyuri by the water… Haven in the daylight and Kuchinashi in the night…” Yang nodded slowly to herself, looking up. “So the four of them balanced the elements in Mistral? And if they weren’t all Dragons…” 

“A Dragon for earth. A Siren for water. And day and night… well, those are just two sides of the same coin, right? Two souls in one body… Or maybe it’s two bodies with one soul between them.”

Qrow cleared his throat, crossing his arms. “Can we speed up the history lesson a little bit, Oz?”

“Right, of course. Time could be very limited if they find the others… And until we learn…” He trailed off, humming in thought. “You said Grimm?”

Yang jerked her head up from studying the map, nodding. “That’s what Emerald said when she saw it, yeah. She, uh… She was someone I traveled with. But she lied to me, was part of the group that killed the Amber Dragon.”

“Do you know what the Grimm are?”

She shook her head slowly, unable to stop the goosebumps that raised on her arms. “Besides terrifying? I have no idea.”

“Well, I’m sure you won’t have to worry about it.” Ozpin stood, tapping his cane on the floor. “I think that covers about enough for today, don’t you? Thank you as always for your hospitality, Taiyang… I’d best return to the city, however.”

“Hey, wait--” Out the door and gone before Yang could even get a word in. She groaned, dropping back to the floor and staring up at the ceiling. “I still had questions…”

“Doubt you would have gotten any more answers out of him.” Her dad leaned over her, staring down into her face. "Welcome home, Yang."

* * *

The man puffed out his cigar, filling the air with thick, choking smoke. “I’m not a babysitter.”

Emerald and Mercury exchanged a look behind Cinder’s back, eyes rolling.  _ This _ was their escort around Vale? This thug with a lame hat and a cigar? Well… he had always heard that the best way to learn a new city was to ask the rats.

“I don’t need a babysitter. I think you know why I’m here.” Cinder leaned on the desk, letting the sleeve of her dress slip aside.

The man inhaled slowly, his cigar burning bright for a moment. “Can’t say I’m that interested in getting in over my head…” He tapped out the smoke on the edge of the desk, leaning forward and crossing his arms. “So… what’s in it for me?”

“Roman…” She reached forward, touched under his chin with the Grimm claw. “I’m  _ asking _ right now.” Blood welled, ran down the black nails. “Don’t  _ make _ me tell you.”

He hissed, the muscles on his neck standing out tense before Cinder’s hand pulled back. “So… What do you need?” Roman reached up, running his hand over the slowly oozing blood.

“That’s more like it.” She looked over her shoulder, nodding. “Emerald, Mercury… go get familiar with the town. I’ll meet you tonight.”

They left quickly, looking around the streets. Mercury shrugged, jerking a thumb back towards the busier part of town. “You wanna see if there’s anything fun to do around here?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Vale was different than Mistral, tall buildings and wide streets as they closed in on the center of the city. Shops lined each side, boutiques with clothing in the windows, cafes with fenced seating areas. The paving was smooth, not the uneven stones that lined Mistral’s streets, the buildings made of smoothed stone rather than wood. The lack of a market of temporary stalls was jarring and he could see Emerald making faces next to him.

“Too hard to steal from shops…” She mumbled, crossing her arms and huffing. “Come on, let’s just find something to do.”

Mercury thought about it, shrugging. He didn’t know much of anything about Vale… Besides wandering looking for entertainment… “Hey… so…”

“I know what I’m going to do.” Emerald swallowed, reaching up and touching her chest through her shirt, where her necklace was. “I told myself a long time ago, I wasn’t going to… to be someone I’m not. Never again. That it didn’t matter what they thought about me, what they whispered… And Cinder made that true. But I can’t work with her if she’s Grimm. I just can’t.” Her fists clenched at her sides, head tilted down.

“Em…”

“They didn’t tell me to leave because I’m half human. They told me to leave because… because a Fae can’t be anything they’re not. And what they think I am is different than what I  _ know _ I am.” His hand touched her cheek and she leaned into it, impatiently wiped tears away from her eyes. “It’s so… backwards. I can’t stay with them because they say I’m not a girl. I can’t stay with Cinder because of the Grimm. Where the hell am I supposed to go?” Her face dropped to his chest, breathing uneven.

He had no answers, doubted he could comfort her in any way. Mercury wrapped his arms around Emerald, held her tight. “If you’re going to leave… I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“What else am I gonna do? I’m just a human, there’s no way they have a use for me.”

She pulled back, wiped a hand across her face and looked him up and down. “So… Where do we go?”

“Mistral’s out. So’s Atlas. We can either… try to run, or… Or…” He looked to either side, sighing. “Try to fix what we did. The next target is the Golden Beacon… That’s Yang’s dad.”

All sentiment disappeared from Emerald’s face, her fist clenching and punching his shoulder. “Are you just using my intense internal struggle to hook back up with your girlfriend?”

“Absolutely.” Mercury grinned back at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leading her along the street. “Come on. We’ll figure this out. Together.”


	9. Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “These are most of the originals. The stories written down by the first writers, told by the first storytellers. The Protectors of Mistral… warriors and scholars all in one.”
> 
> “Sounds like a comic book.” Mercury took a step back at the look the two of them gave him, waving his hand. “Just sayin’. I’ve seen that stuff before.”

Her old room was still there, still had the curtain over the door she’d hung for privacy and decoration. Yang swallowed as she approached, wondering if her family had just… pretended she’d never left. Would that be worse than if they’d changed it?

She pushed the curtain aside slowly, her nerves dropping away at the sight of Blake in the room. “Ruby said I could stay here. Hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” She crossed to the bed, dropping down and sighing. Soft. Comfortable. Amazing. “Kinda surprised she left you alone, actually.”

“It took some effort. I think I said I was tired about six times.” Blake smiled, settling onto the bed with her and wrapping her arms around Yang’s middle. “She’s cute.”

“Yeah… I’d say she’s a cute kid, but she’s not really a kid anymore.”

Laughter pressed into her shoulder, arms tightening around her. “Yes, like a cute kid. Not like a cute you.”

Yang rolled over, her hand reaching up and brushing through Blake’s hair. “Well, at least I don’t have competition from my own sister.” She pressed a kiss to the other girl’s forehead, sighing. “Long day… lots to think about, too.”

“You find out what you need to know?”

She shrugged, wiggling closer, her fingers carding through Blake’s hair slowly. “Some… More questions than answers, though. Right now, all I want is…” Her lips found Blake’s, kissing her slowly, feeling the reciprocating tongue press into her mouth. The rumble from the catlike girl’s throat made her snicker, her mouth moving down, pressing to Blake’s vibrating throat. “All I want is to make my kitty purr.”

“That is the lamest thing you’ve ever said.” They both laughed, moving slowly. Blake stretched out on her back, pulling Yang on top of her and arching into her. “And you…” She pulled the blonde up to her mouth again, kissed the tip of her nose. “You have said a _lot_ of lame things since I’ve met you.”

Yang grinned down at her, bracing herself up on her arms, her knees pressing to the bed on either side of Blake’s hips. She kissed down the other girl’s neck, bit lightly against her collarbone. The rumbling from her throat increased, her body arching into the soft kisses. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang, fingers stroking through her hair. “Mmm…”

“You wanna…” Her teeth sunk in again, pulling a hickey onto the skin of Blake’s neck, a dark bruise. “I still have some of that potion.”

“I like your teeth.”

A shiver went through her, the heat in Blake’s words, the want. Yang moved herself down, kissed along the other girl’s clothed chest and stomach, pushing the shirt up and following it, lips on bare skin. Gasps, moans, fingers digging into the sheets as Yang’s mouth pressed over her nipple, the lightest graze of teeth and a tease of tongue.

“Hey, Yang, I--oh my god!”

Yang jerked herself upright and Blake yanked her shirt down, both of them breathing hard, flushing. “ _Dad_! Knock!”

“Um, right, I--” Tai stepped back out of the room, clearing his throat and knocking. “Hey, Yang, it’s me. Can I come in?”

She exchanged a look with Blake, mouthed a brief apology and climbed off the bed. The dark-haired girl was still flushed, buried herself into the blankets. “Uh, sure, Dad. Sure. Blake’s in here, too.”

Tai stepped into the room, scratching the back of his neck lightly, his tail twitching behind him. “Anyways, uh, I made dinner if you two are hungry. Qrow’s sticking around to eat, too…” He looked to the door, frowning. “He might be able to answer some of your questions.”

“That… That sounds good, Dad. We’ll be out in a minute.” She forced a smile, looking to the bed. “And, uh… Blake’s probably gonna stick around for a bit.”

“Sounds fair. Good. Um, sounds good. Okay, I’m gonna leave before I have to think about… _any_ of what just happened.” Tai let himself out the door and Yang let out a groan.

“Maybe I should just run away again.”

“At least you still had your clothes on. Your dad definitely saw me topless.” Blake pushed herself to sit up, adjusting her shirt quickly.

“Well, to be fair, he definitely saw me _enjoying_ you being topless.” She leaned over, kissed the other girl gently. “Come on, let’s go eat and then… Maybe look into staying somewhere that has locks on the door.”

* * *

“Why are we in a bookstore?” Mercury groaned, flipping through the shelves, looking for anything that might have pictures.

“We need information. We need to know why Cinder’s doing this… and why _she_ wants it.” Emerald flipped through the stacks, frowning. “Besides the obvious. It’s not just about unbalancing the power of the world…”

“Can I help you kids?” A gruff voice spoke up and they looked up, the large man that had approached.

“Hey, you got any comic books?” Mercury grunted as Emerald elbowed him.

“Up front.” Mercury took off towards the front of the store. ”And for you, miss?”

“Well… I was told this is the best bookstore in town…” Emerald smiled, sweet innocence exuding from her. It was enough to make Mercury sick. “Everyone says that Tukson’s Book Trade has everything and that if it’s not here, Tukson can get it.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, but I have inventory to take. What do you need?”

“I need anything you have about the protectors of Mistral.”

The shopkeep narrowed his eyes, looking between the two of them slowly. “Fiction of nonfiction?”

“Nonfiction.”

“Those aren’t for sale.”

The two exchanged a look, Mercury flipping the store sign to closed and slowly coming back to where Emerald stood. He crossed his arms, one eyebrow raising. “Are they for looking?”

Tukson let out a slow rumble, almost a growl, looking from the two of them to the front desk. “I’m not interested in trouble. Why don’t you two kids go find someone else to bother?”

“But you’re the best bookstore in town.” Emerald smiled, her fingertips trailing over the spine of one of the books next to her. “You have everything and if you don’t, you can get it.” She looked up, almost coy. “We’re not interested in trouble either. Just information.”

“And comic books.”

“Shut up, idiot.”

The man sighed, looking back to the desk again. “Why do you want to know those old legends?”

“If you don’t want trouble, then don’t ask questions. Just give us what we need.” Emerald stepped closer, smiling widely. “Seems like a quiet afternoon at Tukson’s Book Trade, we should have plenty of time to do some reading.”

He turned, led them back to the desk and then behind it. Down a short, narrow hall and into a back room with a number of filing cabinets. “Some of these are originals. Don’t take them out of the plastics. Actually, you don’t touch any of this at all, silver-hair. I’d rather you go wait in the front end but I have a feeling that isn’t an option, so just… Don’t touch anything.”

“Yeah, yeah. Look, the books part is boring to me, anyways.” He leaned on the doorframe, watching closely as Tukson pulled out a keyring and opened a filing cabinet. The shop owner rifled through it, pulling out a number of carefully protected documents and laying them on a table. He turned on a dim light, pointing it away from the table.

“These are most of the originals. The stories written down by the first writers, told by the first storytellers. The Protectors of Mistral… warriors and scholars all in one.”

“Sounds like a comic book.” Mercury took a step back at the look the two of them gave him, waving his hand. “Just sayin’. I’ve seen that stuff before.”

Emerald shook her head, pulling one of the documents over and skimming it carefully. “Amber Dragon, here it is. She…” She trailed off, looking at the different documents. “Wait, what’s this? Blue Siren? I’ve never heard of a siren before… What about the Black and White?”

Tukson leaned over next to her, picking up a different document. “Black and White aren’t as straightforward. It’s… Here.” He cleared his throat, reading aloud. “ ‘ _The souls of creation and destruction bind together, pull apart, become one and two. Neither leads, neither follows, like sun and moon, day and night… Black and White._ ’ “

“Creation and destruction… Sounds like it’s one thing.” Mercury shrugged at the looks they gave him. “I’m trying to be helpful!”

“No, you’re… right.” Emerald frowned, leaning over to read the text. “Become one and two… What if…” She stood, stepping towards the door. “Thanks for your time, Tukson. You really are the best bookstore in Vale.” The green-haired girl grabbed Mercury’s arm, pulling him from the back room and then outside.

“What was that?”

“I have an idea. And I… don’t like it.” She looked over her shoulder, frowning. “Dragon, Siren… What others are there?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking me--”

“I’m not. I’m thinking out loud so stop interrupting. Creation and destruction, there’s a legend about that. The fire that destroys the forest and… paves the way for new life. It’s balance. It’s…” Her eyes widened, her hand grasping his arm. “Dragon. Siren. Phoenix. Do you remember what I told you about Higanbana? The bird that kicked me out of its head?”

Mercury was quiet until Emerald cleared her throat. “Yeah, kinda…”

“What if that was the Phoenix?”

Mercury turned, staring at her with one eyebrow raised skeptically. “Really? You think it was just, what, watching bandits destroy a town?”

“Or… it was with them. You said it yourself, the Black Dragon is gone from Kuchinashi. If Black and White are two sides of the same coin, it makes sense that the White Dragon isn’t actually in Haven. Creation follows destruction. What happens when bandits destroy a town?”

They exchanged a look, nodding slowly. “People rebuild.” Mercury groaned, rubbing his forehead. “But none of this helps us with why Cinder’s doing this.”

“Which is why we’re bringing this information to the Golden Beacon. Because he… might know.”

* * *

It wasn’t awkward at all to be sitting back down at dinner, Blake on her left and Qrow on her right, watching her dad distinctly not look directly at her or Blake. Ruby was the only one who seemed oblivious, talking animatedly about her upcoming trip to Atlas.

“Weiss says that the airships might be operational by the time I get there and if they are she’s going to take me on a flight around the city.”

“Huh. Can’t imagine what that’s like.” Tai snorted, shaking his head. “It sounds great, but maybe you two shouldn’t be, you know, the test pilots.”

“ _Dad_ it’ll be fine! They’ll make sure it’s safe before letting Weiss anywhere near it, I bet.” Ruby made a face, sticking her tongue out. “And just ‘cause you can fly doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t wanna try it.”

“I’ve been in the air with your dad. It’s terrifying,” Qrow spoke up, rubbing his arm after Tai’s light punch. “I’m more surprised that the Platinum Dragon is cooperating with the Schnees on a project.”

Ruby shrugged, looking down at her plate. “Weiss said in her letter that her sister is the one working on the ships, not her dad. And I think… I think that--”

She cut off, all of them falling silent. Tai stood slowly, moving away from the table. No one needed to ask, all of them could hear and feel the approaching footsteps. “Qrow.”

“Yeah.” Qrow stood, near silent steps leaving the room, disappearing down a hallway.

Yang pressed a hand to her floor, straining her senses. “They’ve stopped.”

“Two of them, one light, one heavy.” Tai’s fingers dug into the wall, waiting. “Girls, go to Ruby’s room.”

The three girls stood up, no space for protests in Tai’s voice. Yang hesitated at the door, looking over her shoulder. Those footsteps…

Qrow walked back to the table, shaking his head. “Girl with green hair, boy with silver. Waiting at the entrance.” He stepped closer to Tai, kept his voice low enough even Yang couldn’t hear him.

She glanced at Blake, getting a shrug. “He said the girl tried to get in?”

Green haired girl, silver haired boy… Yang gasped in a breath, quick steps back to the main room. “There’s only two of them? Not a woman with black hair with them?”

“Just two, Firecracker,” Qrow confirmed, his eyes on Tai’s back. “Why? You know something?”

“Mercury and Emerald. They’re the ones that… In Mistral…” That had done too many things, some right and most wrong. If they were here, if they were after her dad… Her fists clenched, eyes darting back to her room. “If they’re here for a fight, we should all go.”

“We’ll see why they’re here, first.” Tai turned, looked over his shoulder for just a moment. All of his fatherly smiling was gone, his jaw set, the ferocity that made him a dragon the only thing in his posture. “But be ready to back me up.”

He walked down the hall to the entrance, footsteps heavy, shaking the rocks and sending distant landslides down the mountain.

* * *

Emerald and Mercury exchanged a look as the ground shook, taking defensive steps backwards. They’d done what they could to make their approach known, to not be seen as a threat… But they weren’t willing to bet on hospitality. Especially not after Emerald had tried to use the bird that had flown past and been rejected again.

“It was different. I couldn’t even try,” she whispered, rubbing her temple lightly. A trickle of blood ran from her ear, dripping off her earlobe to her shoulder.

Rocks in front of them gave way and they both took another step back, eyes wide as they stared into the face of the dragon. This had to be him, this had to be the Golden Beacon… Mercury swallowed down his nerves, glancing at Emerald. She was better at this.

She took a deep breath, stepping forward with her hands slightly raised. “We’re not here to harm.”

“Then leave.” Steam puffed from his mouth as he growled the words, the glittering golden scales on his body quickly obscuring in the fog.

“We’re here to prevent harm.” Emerald kept her voice even, somehow, though Mercury could see the fine tremor that ran up her back.

The dragon lashed out, swiped for her with claws and Mercury darted between them, raised his arms to block the blow. Pain ripped through him, a splash of red hitting the ground as his arm was torn open, but he kept himself between Emerald and the dragon, kept his arms up defensively. “Someone is planning to kill you! The same person that convinced us to kill the Amber Dragon of Shion!”

“The same one that’s going to go after Kuroyuri’s Blue Siren and the Phoenix of Haven and Kuchinashi.”

The claws in his arm let go slowly, the eyes still narrowed. “I don’t need protecting from a half-fae and a human.”

Emerald stepped up next to Mercury, closing her hand over the deep puncture on his arm. They’d have to retreat soon, get that taken care of by a doctor. “Whoever is sending people out to kill Protectors is with the Grimm. Can do things with them that… that shouldn’t be possible.” Her eyes met the dragon’s, imploring. “Do you want an advantage against that?”

The dragon hesitated, his tail lashing behind him. Finally he turned away, walking back to the mountain. “Inside. I can bandage up that injury. For a human, you’re either brave or stupid.”

“Mostly stupid…” Mercury winced, looking to Emerald again before following him inside. If they wanted to help, they’d have to prove it.


	10. Reconcile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow nodded slowly, looking around the table. “Okay… So we figure out what they want. Tell us everything.”
> 
> “Yeah, Mercury.” Yang leaned forward, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Tell us the _truth_ about everything.”

She’d known it would happen, had seen their hesitations and their glances. They didn’t understand, that was all. They didn’t understand the type of power she was giving them, the type of world she was creating.

Of course Emerald wouldn’t understand. Fae and Grimm were mortal enemies. But she’d expected the girl’s loyalty to her to be enough. And Mercury…

Cinder closed her Grimm fist, feeling the power of it pulsate through her. Mercury had  _ nothing _ without her,  _ was _ nothing without what they’d given him. A lost kid with broken legs that they had found, they had fixed. He owed them  _ everything _ he had and he’d run off.

Her gaze turned to the distant mountains, eyes narrowing. Would they go to the Golden Beacon? Would they try to stop her? Or would they flee, try to escape from her grasp? 

Either way, they wouldn’t escape her. Whether they wanted to or not, they’d help her. And when it was all said and done…

There would be punishment.

* * *

 

They settled around the table, a half-eaten meal in front of them, tensions layering thick on every side. Mercury held his bleeding arm, his eyes looking anywhere but at Yang across the way from him.

“So.” The black-haired man spoke up as Tai came back with bandages, pointing to Emerald. “Talk.”

She took a deep breath, curling her fingers over the edge of the table. Start at the beginning. She could do this. She  _ had _ to do this. “Vale has a Golden Beacon. Atlas has a Platinum Wiseman. Vacuo has a Dune Dragon. And Mistral has… more. Others. The Amber Dragon, the Blue Siren, and Black and White, which sound like two but are one. The Phoenix. I think.”

“Right enough. Now tell me something I don’t know.”

“No one has ever been to the Eastern Mountains of Mistral and come back. Until now.” She bit her lip, looking over to Mercury as Tai bandaged his arm. “When we killed the Amber Dragon of Shion… She almost killed us. We were working with a woman named Cinder, and the dragon ripped her arm off. Cinder went east. We went off on our own. And when she came back… Back from the Eastern Mountains… she was different. Had something different. Her arm was… was Grimm.”

“That’s impossible.” Tai shook his head, moving to sit down across from Qrow. “That doesn’t work.”

“Dad, I saw it. Hell, I  _ punched _ it,” Yang spoke up, looking over to Tai. “I don’t know what Grimm is, but it wasn’t human. Wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before.”

“There’s more than just Cinder and who she’s working for. There’s a scientist in Atlas, Watts--” Ruby hissed in a breath, her eyes widening “--and a man named Hazel working with Menagerie--” Blake’s eyes narrowed “--and someone in Mistral named Tyrian.”

“Tyrian…” Qrow frowned, crossing his arms. “Scrawny, lanky, crazy?”

“That’s the one.” 

“Great…”

Mercury cleared his throat, looking down at the table. “We came here to warn you that she’s here. That Cinder’s planning to attack. We don’t know what she wants or why she’s doing it, but it’s happening and… And she thinks she has enough power to take down the Golden Beacon.” His hand ran over the bandages on his arm, a wince crossing his face. “I think she does, too. Or close to it.”

“You haven’t seen what I can do, kid.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Emerald slammed her hands onto the table, looking around. “It doesn’t matter if she can or can’t, it matters that she’s trying to and we don’t know  _ why _ ! Look, Mercury and I aren’t here to help you stop Cinder. We’re here because… because whatever Cinder’s building to is wrong and whoever she’s working for needs to be stopped.”

Qrow nodded slowly, looking around the table. “Okay… So we figure out what they want. Tell us everything.”

“Yeah, Mercury.” Yang leaned forward, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Tell us the  _ truth _ about everything.”

* * *

Talk ran late into the night, long after the sun sank. Tai lit fires around the spacious room, chased the shadows back and warmed the air. 

By the time they'd told everything, everyone was fighting down yawns. The Golden Dragon spoke as silence filled the void where information had been. "This is a lot to process. Let's all get some sleep and start again in the morning." He stood, stretched and flexed his wings. "I have a room you two can stay in, this way. Don't try to leave it, I'll definitely know." 

Mercury and Emerald followed him, settled into the rocky chamber. The younger girl, Ruby, brought them blankets after Tai left, bid them a good night with a surprisingly kind smile. 

Emerald dropped to the makeshift bed first, stretched herself out and closed her eyes. "We might as well get some sleep." 

"Yeah, so that we're easy targets? You sleep. I'm going to stay up and keep watch." 

"Suit yourself. Paranoid..." She blew out the candle next to her, left him with only his own near the door. Maybe an hour of silence passed and Mercury found himself nodding off, propped against the rough wall. It was similar to when he'd first met Yang, the night spent in that cliffside cave… His head jerked up, ears straining to hear. Someone was outside the room. 

Mercury took the candle with him, eased into the hallway and almost immediately into the blonde half-dragon. "You're still not quiet," she whispered, one hand reaching up, starting to reach for him before pulling back, tucking her hair behind her ear instead. "Come on, let's take a walk." 

"Won't your dad hear us?" 

"He's a way heavier sleeper than he thinks." She led him away from the room, through the chambers and upwards. Mercury kept his eyes on Yang’s back, on her hair shining in the minimal light of his candle. A puff of air distinguished the flame as she rounded a corner and he followed, blinking against the brightness of the silver moon.

They’d climbed to almost the top of the mountain, an outcropping from the cave that flattened out, thin grasses and short trees providing some comfort. Yang took a seat under one of the trees, patting the ground next to her lightly until Mercury sat down. Her gaze stayed on the moon, her fingers sliding up and over, feeling his arm down to his hand. “I want to be mad at you.”

“Fair.”

“But… you’re trying to do the right thing. That means… That means that I have to give you a chance.”

“You don’t have to…” Her fingers tightened on his hand for a moment. “But I’m glad you are.”

Yang dropped her head to his shoulder, her eyes closing. “I missed you, you jerk.”

The silence reigned between them, even the wind still in the late night. Mercury wrapped his arm over Yang’s shoulders eventually, pressing his face to the top of her head. “I missed you, too.”

Her weight settled against him more heavily, slowly pressing him to the ground, warmth surrounding him as Yang climbed on top of him. She buried her face against his chest, sighing heavily. There was so much to talk about, so many different problems to solve… and not a single one mattered right now, lying in the moonlight and feeling each other's heartbeats. 

The moon was gone when he opened his eyes again, blackness overhead. Mercury blinked in confusion, shifting to try to get more comfortable. Yang’s weight against him was warm, her arms tightening for a moment as he tried to move. Late. Falling asleep together. It came back to him slowly, his fingers trailing down her back. “Yang…”

“Mmm… no…” She groaned, turning her face to either side against his chest. “Five more minutes…”

Mercury snickered, sitting up despite her protesting weight, nudging her until her eyes opened. “Bedroom,” he whispered, pushing himself to stand against the tree, hauling Yang to her feet. They staggered inside and down the hall, fell into Yang’s bed with eyes barely open. Blake rolled over, pressed herself into Yang’s back as the half-dragon resumed her position against Mercury’s chest, the three of them falling easily into a comfortable position.

* * *

The late night walk hadn’t woken Tai, but someone was aware of Mercury and Yang’s stroll through the mountain. Qrow sighed, pressing himself tighter to the Golden Dragon’s sleeping form, his head shaking slightly. These kids…

He felt arms tighten around him, closed his eyes as sleep eased into his bones. The Amber Dragon of Shion… The Blue Siren of Kuroyuri… and of course, the Phoenix, the two sides of the same coin. Sure, there were more, like the man whose bed he currently shared, like James Ironwood up in Atlas, but those three… If Mistral fell to chaos, to the grim realities of darkness, there was no telling how fast the others would fall.

Dreams chased him through the night, body twitching and sweating. Fires set to innocent lives, the ashes of destruction left in their wake. Acrid smoke burned his nose as he passed through it, tried to find the cause, tried to find a way to return the world to what it was. He touched the ground on bare feet, sank his toes into the remnants of what had once been lives and felt green tickle under them, regrowth.

People came back, Qrow saw, rebuilt from the ashy ruins and became stronger. They were resilient. He told himself not to worry, watched with increasing disinterest as it burned again and his touch again returned the life. The cycle continued.

A force touched him, slammed into him and his body jolted, yanked from Tai’s arms and sat up. Qrow reached up, rubbing his temples briefly before flopping back down against Tai. Whatever dream he’d had, the same old dream or a new variation, was fading quickly. Instinct told him he still had time before sunrise, told him that what had awakened him was in the real world, footsteps coming through Tai’s domain. The two that had snuck off earlier, he concluded. Nothing dangerous, just kids going to sleep in a real bed.

His sleep this time was silence and darkness, no dreams chasing themselves around his mind. Qrow yawned himself awake to rough hands on his body, rolled into the bare chest he’d slept against and pressed his lips over golden scales.

“Behave. The kids are here.”

“They’re asleep.”

“Then don’t behave.”

The two of them needed time to misbehave more often, Qrow decided as he sighed into Tai’s roaming hands. His back arched, mouth pressing to Tai’s neck to muffle any noises he might have made, nails digging into his back and leaving bright red scratches.


	11. In A Dragon's Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There wasn’t anything quite as comforting as falling asleep in a dragon’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the "Interlewd" as it were. It contains no plot relevance and is 100% an excuse to write some Dragon smut. Enjoy if that's your thing, skip without fear if it's not. <3

“Behave. The kids are here.”

“They’re asleep.”

“Then don’t behave.”

As if he needed the invitation. Tai’s hands slid over Qrow’s body, pressed him down to the bed and pinned his hips in place. His lips followed, left biting kisses along the pale skin, not quite hard enough to mar it. Not yet.

Misbehaving or not, they still made an effort to keep quiet, both too aware of the others in the mountain this night. Qrow pressed his mouth over Tai’s neck, muffled his moans as his hands spoke for him, bright red scratches letting the Dragon know that everything he was doing was appreciated.

Clothing was impatiently pushed away, hands roaming over bared skin with more urgency. They knew how limited their time was, wasted none of it on fumbling. Tai and Qrow were too experienced with each other’s bodies for that, too familiar with just the right places to touch. 

With a grunt of effort Qrow pushed the Dragon onto his back, slung himself over his hips and rocked down against him. Hands reached for him, pulled him down forehead to forehead, almost a grapple if their hips hadn’t been moving against each other in just that way. Their lips met, swallowing moans and silencing them as Qrow’s hands wrapped around both of their shafts and began to stroke.

He could have taken Tai inside himself, would have  _ preferred _ that, but they both knew how loud things would get with such an act. The risks of being caught like this were already high. 

“Qrow… Fuck, Qrow…” Tai pulled away from his mouth, voice high with need, breathless and flushed with want. His teeth sank in to the other man’s shoulder, silenced himself as he spilled over them.

Qrow’s laughter turned to moans he couldn’t quiet as the arms around him moved down, cupped the curve of his ass and squeezed. He stroked himself faster, pressed his hips back and felt a finger tease against him. “Don’t tease me,” he grunted out, rocking more desperately between Tai’s hand and his own.

Words didn’t answer him, but the prodding finger pressed inside, moved with his jerking hips and rubbed against him. Tai’s head turned, mouth finding Qrow’s, catching his shout of orgasm as the mess between them doubled.

They fell to the bed panting, damp with sweat, warm with afterglow. Qrow curled up against Tai once more, his fingers idly tracing along the Dragon’s chest. “Next time…”

“Yeah…” Unspoken filth, ideas they both had about just what ‘next time’ would entail.

For now, though, it was still late and sleep was still appealing. They’d just have to wake up early, clean up before anyone else caught them in such a state. There wasn’t anything quite as comforting as falling asleep in a dragon’s arms.

* * *

Fingers trailing through her hair woke her up, eyes opening slowly. Yang groaned softly, wiggling between the two bodies pressed to either side of her. “Mm…”

“Morning…” Blake’s voice in her ear, lips trailing along her jaw slowly.

“Hey…” She turned, feeling Mercury’s arms tighten around her for a moment. Yang’s lips pressed to Blake’s, her arms wrapping around the black haired girl. “Sorry I was in so late.”

“It’s okay. Did you, um…” She nodded slightly to Mercury, her hand trailing down Yang’s side. “Talk to him about it all?”

“We sorta… fell asleep.” Yang laughed, kissing her again. “We can talk about it later.”

“Talk about what?” Mercury’s voice in the back of her neck, his arms shifting, wrapping around both of them. “You gossiping about me?”

“Absolutely.” Yang squirmed as she was trapped, feeling Blake’s arms move, too. “Mm… don’t get jealous of each other.”

“You are not that appealing.”

“You wish, blondie.”

The twin sentiments made her snicker, enough wiggling around until Yang could lie on her back. She slid her arms around both of them, her eyes closing in content. “Hey, as long as I get your undivided attention.”

“Undivided, hm?” Blake leaned over her, lips trailing along Yang’s jaw before passing her, pressing a kiss to Mercury’s mouth. “That sounds like an invitation to tease.”

“I do like to tease…” Mercury’s fingers trailed down Blake’s side, over her hip and across her thigh. “See if I can make this kitty purr.”

The black haired girl pulled back, her face blank. “Oh my god. No. There’s two of you.”

Yang cackled, turning and pressing her face to Mercury’s shoulder to quiet the noises, laughter quickly turning to a squeak of surprise as fingers pinched her nipple. The pinch became a stroke, a hand cupping her breast and toying with her, jolts of pleasure shooting down her spine. She couldn’t be sure which of them it was, didn’t particularly want to open her eyes and ruin the suspense.

Cloth rustled, clothing and blankets pushed away to bare skin to roaming hands and mouths. The efforts to quiet themselves were quickly abandoned, low noises between the three of them filling the room. Blake pressed herself on top of Yang, her thighs spreading to either side of the half-dragon’s hips, feeling fingers spread her open as the blunt head of Mercury’s cock pressed to her entrance.

He entered her slowly, filled her completely before slowly pulling back, the motion repeating, picking up speed. Blake’s hand snaked down the minimal space between Yang’s torso and hers, found the blonde’s pussy and pressed two fingers into her moist heat. The angle wasn’t the best and she pressed back to Mercury’s chest, felt his hands move to her breasts and squeeze as the two of them sat up. 

Yang’s eyes were on them, burning with hungry passion, her fingers tracing up Blake’s thigh, finding her clit and beginning to rub. She mirrored the action on herself, her body clenching down on the fingers inside her, hips jolting upwards, seeking more. “Ah… f-fuck, Blake, Mercury, I need--I need--” She thrashed below them, whined with need as Blake’s fingers continued to pump in and out of her.

Silent agreement, not even a look exchanged between them as Mercury picked up the pace, squeezed Blake’s breasts and pinched her nipples. The heat that surrounded him clenched down for a moment and he buried himself deep into it, head snapping back and teeth clenching against a scream as he came.

Blake pulled her hand away from Yang, slowly moved forward until Mercury slipped out of her. She crawled upwards, straddled Yang’s face and hovered with her pussy inches from the blonde’s mouth. “You wanna taste us?” Her fingers threaded through blonde hair, pulling slightly when Yang nodded eagerly, guiding her in. She shuddered and moaned as a tongue swept over her slit before pressing inside, beginning to lick Mercury’s cum out of her.

The sounds from them, the sight of them, had arousal stirring inside Mercury again. He moved down, gently brushed Yang’s hand out of the way and pressed his lips over her sweaty skin, left a trail of kisses and bites along her thigh to her pussy. His tongue teased against her, bare touch that left her shaking before he traveled down her other thigh. Mercury slid a finger into the eager blonde, quickly adding a second as he teased kisses against her clit. He could feel how ready she was, how much she wanted what he had to give, knew that further teasing would only drive her to more desperation.

Sensation was overwhelming Yang, the feeling of Mercury between her legs, the taste of him and Blake mingling on her tongue, the way hands grasped her hair and pulled as Blake came over her mouth. Her back arched up, eyes rolling back with pleasure as Mercury replaced his fingers with his cock, still moving teasingly slow, his hand gripping her hip hard enough to bruise. Fingers stroked her clit again and she jolted, a part of her just aware enough to realize it was Blake’s hand, probably guided by Mercury. She leaned in, licking more desperately at Blake’s pussy as the movement inside her began to pick up pace.

There was no measure of who reached a peak when, no counting how many highs they experienced. Yang muffled her scream against Blake’s shaking thigh as she felt the warmth inside her, the same warmth she’d felt that first night, on the side of the road by the fire. Mercury’s warmth, his seed filling her. The three fell to the bed exhausted, Yang’s arms wrapping around both of her lovers and keeping them close.


	12. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You have red eyes, too.”  
> \--  
> “Did you tell them anything about us? About… any of what’s going on?”  
> \--  
> "She told me about the Phoenix.”

From this high up, sunrise was more than just a slowly brightening room, a glimmer of gold crawling up the wall from the window. She inhaled slowly, stretching her arms over her head as the horizon tinted red, then pink, then slowly became gold. Shadows stretched long as the first rim of golden sunrise crested the edge of the world and she exhaled.

“It’s nice, huh?”

Emerald’s shoulders jumped up, her body tensing at the words. “Yeah.”

Footsteps moved closer, stopped next to her as he took in a breath and stretched. “Why’d you work with her?”

She watched the world grow brighter, the patches of gold that climbed from the tops of trees and houses to the bottom. “They don’t mind half-fae, really. Don’t treat them any different. As long as they behave like they’re real Fae. Humans that get to go to that world are treated the same. You go there, you become one of them.” She folded her arms, held her elbows and closed her eyes. “But there’s some stuff that they just… Don’t like, you know? Things like me and who I say I am.”

“Well that’s… shitty.” Qrow watched her from the corner of his eye, waiting for more.

“So I left. Or got kicked out. Whatever. Turns out that the human world isn’t as… kind to half-breeds. Wasn’t anywhere for me to go when I got here. Until she found me. Until she offered me a place to be safe.” She looked down, biting her lip. “It wasn’t _bad_ . I mean, we were stealing--pickpocketing and stuff--but we weren’t _hurting_ anyone. Not until after we went to Atlas. After…” Emerald frowned, thinking it over, calling up conversations in her memory. “We met Mercury in Atlas. He was working for someone named Watts. That’s when things changed. Watts talked to Cinder, I couldn’t hear, and then… We went back to Mistral with Mercury. Cinder left for a while. Mercury and I got by. She came back and we… Just kept going. Did what she said. Even when it was wrong. Because… Because if I didn’t, she’d leave me, and then where would I go?”

“Mmm… But you still left. So what pushed you over it?”

“Grimm.”

Qrow nodded slowly, the story she and Mercury had told the night before. Things that made so much more sense now. “So what’s in it for your friend?”

Emerald shook her head briefly. “That’s his business. But he’ll… Stay where he fits. It’s what he does.” She turned, walking back inside. The sun was up, it was time to start her day. “You know, speaking of private business… You have red eyes, too.”

* * *

“Mmm…” Yang rolled over, pressing her face to Mercury’s shoulder and fighting down a yawn. She could feel Blake’s steady breathing against her back, hear both of their heartbeats as they slept. It was early, the late night interlude had definitely worn all three of them out, but something still stirred her awake. With an effort, she extracted herself from the other two, sliding out of bed and stretching. Her tail whipped behind her for a moment before she picked up a blanket, wrapping it around herself.

She found Ruby making breakfast, snuck up on her little sister and pulled her into a tight hug. “Morning.”

“Ah, morning.” Ruby’s wings fluttered against her, small red appendages from her back. They weren’t big enough to let her fly, were barely big enough to flap. She looked over her shoulder, grinning and nudging her. “You want to help me make breakfast.”

“That sure sounded like a demand instead of a request.” Yang laughed, letting go and climbing up to take a seat on the counter. “I think I’ll just watch you work.”

“Mmm…. nope. You’re gonna help.” Ruby shoved a bowl into her hands, pointing. “Stir.” She moved to the stove, flipping the meats in the pan. “And talk. You and Blake, yeah, cute, but you and that Mercury guy? Really?”

The stirring stuttered, her eyes darting around the room. “I think you mean me and both of them.”

“Yang!”

“What?!” She laughed, shaking her head quickly. “Come on, why are you even surprised?”

Ruby snickered, turning away from the stove. “Okay, so you and both of them… So you’re just gonna…” Her eyes darted to Yang, bright silver under her lashes. “Forgive him?”

“I don’t… know. Gotta talk to Blake about it, I think. She was there in Kuchinashi…” She passed the bowl of batter over, jumping down from the counter. “That night… Both of them seemed hesitant after the Cinder woman showed up. Like they didn’t know what to do, but went along with her. Emerald hung back, Mercury… Mercury fought.”

“Did he… y’know, kill anyone? Besides the Amber Dragon?”

“Not that night. But I don’t know if… that’s a pattern.” She shrugged, looking to the stove. “That’s gonna burn.”

She slipped out of the kitchen while Ruby rushed to stop her breakfast from burning, almost ran directly into her uncle. “Oh, hey, I was just--”

“Taking a shower, I hope.”

“You’re one to talk.” She snorted, moving past him, freezing as he touched her arm. “What?”

“Did you tell them anything about us? About… any of what’s going on?” Qrow’s voice was low, his eyes on the doorway to the kitchen.

Yang pulled her arm away, shaking her head quickly. “Nothing.”

Qrow nodded slowly, walking into the kitchen without another word. Yang watched him over her shoulder, shaking her head. Weird.

* * *

Knowing the city’s underground, its back alleys and shady deals, was helpful. Having someone who could move among them was better. Cinder leaned on Roman’s desk, her eyes on the sprawl of papers there. “Do you actually do work here?”

“Some. Most affairs are handled outside the country. It’s a bit… neater that way.” Roman sat back, taking another drink from his coffee cup. He hated mornings. “Was there something specific you were looking for?”

Cinder hummed, her fingers trailing over figures and lines, pushing them aside to show the diagrams underneath. “This road here, the one that leads right to the mountains…”

“Private road, official passes only. No trade. It doesn’t go anywhere, anyway. Just those old mountains. What’re they called, the Beacons?”

“What do you know about the Golden Beacon?”

He eyed the scatter of papers, the maps of the city and highlighted transport routes. “What, the dragon? I mean, I know it’s there, but…” The mountains to the southwest blocked any land route to Vacuo. Only one road built that way, with no passage through the mountains. “But I don’t think they’re as powerful as people say. At least, not this one.”

“No?”

Roman snorted, shaking his head. “Is the city wealthy because some dragon sits in the mountains and blocks a perfectly good land trade route? Or is the city wealthy because we lowly humans figured out how to make the best of our lot in life?”

She nodded slowly, her other hand tapping on her thigh. “There is power in this world, Roman… Power you can’t even imagine. I’ve seen it. I’ve been given a piece of it. If this dragon isn’t powerful, like you say, then… Then I suppose that what I have to do next will be easy.” The swirling darkness of the Grimm slid out from under her dress, reaching up to break the lightbulb overhead. “You’ve been a great help, Roman.”

* * *

“I’m gonna need a bigger table.” Tai looked around, the six others surrounding the table ladened with breakfast. “Or just a bigger house in general.”

“Uh oh…” Ruby exchanged a look with Yang, her eyes wide. “Dad’s gonna start another remodeling project… Say goodbye to peace and quiet.”

“Sassing off under your father’s room, I raised you better.”

Yang snickered, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, Dad, the crowd’s gonna get smaller pretty quick. Ruby’s off to Atlas and…” She shrugged, looking amon the group. “I don’t really want to live at home forever, so I think I’ll find a place of my own soon.”

“My little girls are growing up…” Tai faked a sniff, rubbing his arm as Qrow nudged him. “Okay, okay… That’s fair, I guess. _I guess_. At least this time you’ll let me know before you leave, right?”

Blake snickered. “I dunno, sending a bounty hunter after her worked out pretty well last time.”

“I’m not hiring more people to start dating you.” The table broke up into laughter, even Tai cracking up at the idea.

Mercury looked from Yang to Tai, frowning. “Wait... So can I start getting paid for dating you?”

“No.” Two voices answered him, flat voices that caused another bout of laughter at the table. Mercury huffed, crossing his arms.

“Jerks, all of you.”

It wasn’t all bad. Even Emerald seemed to enjoy it here. Mercury watched her from the corner of his eye, unable to hide his own smile. From an outsider’s perspective she probably looked uncomfortable, stiffly keeping to herself as she ate. From his knowledge of her, though… He saw the way she reached to the plates in the center to put more food on her plate, unhesitant. The small smile curling the corner of her mouth whenever the group laughed.

They cleaned up from breakfast, everyone drifting in their own directions. Mercury found himself alone with Emerald and lightly nudged her shoulder. “What’re you thinking about?”

“This place… is… It’s like…” She bit her lip, frowned and shook her head. “Did you notice who else has red eyes?”

He’d talk to her more about that later, then. Mercury considered, replaying their morning at the breakfast table. “I noticed who doesn’t.”

“He doesn’t look like he’s half anything, though.”

“And she doesn’t look like a full-fledged dragon.”

They exchanged looks, too many curiosities in one place for the moment. Too many questions, not enough answers. “I’ll work on him, you work on her?” Emerald suggested after a minute, looking to the doorway.

“Sounds like a plan. We don’t wanna be blind, after all.”

She opened her mouth, the words cutting off with a gasp as a roar echoed through the rocky passages. Loud footsteps pounded by outside their room, a flash of gold as Tai ran past. “What the--”

“Cinder.” Qrow’s voice in the doorway, his gaze darting towards the direction Tai had run. “She’s going up the Wizard’s Path. You two should stay back here.” He left quickly, not waiting for an answer.

They looked from the door to each other, Emerald’s breath hitching in her throat. “Cinder…”

“We knew this would happen, even if we left. We knew what she planned when she came to Vale.” Mercury pulled a knife from his belt, spinning it in his hand. “If we stand with them, we stand against her. Can you do it?”

She exhaled slowly, reached up and plucked the knife from his fingertips. “I can. Let’s get outside and… and see what we’re up against.”

* * *

Those guarding the Wizard’s Path later spoke of only a shadow that seemed to smile. A blink, a flash, and the sun had moved almost halfway across the sky. No one raised the alarm until she was at the gates, until she had stepped inside as if to her own home.

The man that met her at the door held a cane, his silver hair shining in the morning sun, but for that he was not frail. His eyes met hers steadily, uninfluenced by the fire that burned in her gaze. “You know, most people call.”

“Most people have better guards.”

The Grimm arm lashed out like lightning, darkness overtaking the peaceful day. With a thunderclap and a flash, however, it was back at her side, limp and numb. The Wizard tapped his cane to the ground once more, both of his hands coming forward to rest on the head of it. “Do you know what she’s done to you?”

“She’s given me power.” The Grimm fingers twitched, spikes of pain drilling into her heart as they tried to move.

“Did she tell you what it would cost?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Her heart pounded in her chest, blood rushing in her ears as the fist clenched.

“You might disagree if you knew the truth.” The cane raised half an inch, tapped back to the ground and shook the earth under them. Ozpin’s stance remained steady as Cinder stumbled. “You might find yourself rethinking the value against the cost.” Again the ground shook as he tapped and Cinder fell to her knees, left arm reaching up, grasping her right shoulder. “You might even--”

“You lose.”

Her words brought stillness to the air, a thin, high shriek slowly growing louder. The clenching Grimm fist tightened, the ground trembling as the digit that had slipped into the ground pulled back towards her, shredding grass and concrete alike. The boy that fell into her grasp stared with wide hazel eyes at the Grimm fist that surrounded him, his breath wheezing in and out of his throat.

“Oscar…”

“Help!”

Ozpin’s gaze turned to Cinder, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Another shriek from Oscar, pain and panic almost ear-splitting, stilled his movements.

“This is your… contingency, isn’t it? The next vessel that you chose. She told me all about you, what you do to them. Did this boy know the truth? Did you tell him what the value was compared to the cost?” Cinder stood slowly, advancing up the short steps to where Ozin stood, Grimm arm trailing behind her and still holding Oscar in place.

“He’s a boy. He’s done nothing wrong. Your grudge is with me.”

Bright golden eyes remained locked on deep brown, held him in place. “You know that you’ve done wrong. Did you ask _any_ of them before you turned them into your… your _puppets_ ? The Dragons, the guardians, the souls you trapped in this never-ending cycle just so you’d have some damn _company_?!”

“Fate chose them, not me.”

“A fate you dictated. She told me what you did to her. She told me about the Phoenix.”

Ozpin’s eyes left hers for a moment and Cinder clenched her fist, her fury faltering as the boy’s scream didn’t accompany the action. “What--” She looked over her shoulder, let out a shriek. The Grimm fist lay on the ground, curled inward like a crushed spider, a blade sticking out of the wrist as a man carefully pushed the boy behind him. Pain wrapped around her heart, squeezed hard enough to crack it. “ _What did you do_?!”

“You lose.”


	13. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The Dragon, the Siren, and the Phoenix…” Emerald kept her eyes on the table, her fingers curling over the edge of it. “What happens if one of them dies?”
> 
> “Well, that’d be a bit of a disaster, wouldn’t it? But there are plans for such things. Power has to go somewhere."

“Stay behind me, kid.” Qrow kept his eyes on the woman, almost positive that she wasn’t down for the count yet. She’d fallen to her knees, held a hand against her heaving chest, but he could feel the pull of that Grimm arm of hers trying to get out from under his blade.

“You can’t… You can’t…” She heaved in a breath, her body bending forward as she retched.

Ozpin walked forward slowly, his cane tapping lightly on the ground. He used it to tilt her chin up, pinned her with his eyes as effectively as Qrow had pinned her with his sword. “What she’s done to you will kill you to save itself. I can make it stop hurting.”

“Oz--”

“I don’t need your  _ pity _ !” The fire was back in her, Grimm fist curling around his sword. Qrow gripped it tighter, dug it deeper into the ground. The earth was shaking below his feet, cracks racing across the stone from where he stood. This was going to be bad.

It ripped free with the sound of rending flesh, a scream from the woman that it possessed as the arm split at the wrist, became two three-fingered hands. They took only a cursory swipe at him, enough to make Qrow jump back before they pulled to her.

She stood, her eyes blazing, her harsh breathing seeming to be pushed and pulled from her lungs, body no longer under her mind’s control. This… This was a nightmare. Qrow took another step back, kept a hand behind him to keep Oscar away from it all. 

Ozpin didn’t back down, only assessed her renewed energy. He lifted his cane from the ground, spun it in his grip and pointed it to her. “And she criticizes me for sending children to fight my wars.” 

The clash was like a storm, black on white, the ground shaking, the building behind them crumbling. Qrow turned away from it, shielded Oscar against as much of it as he could. Experience would land Ozpin on top easily, but desperation kept Cinder in the fight. 

He stood over her once again, her back to the wall, his cane pressed lightly to her throat. There was almost nothing human left in her eyes, nothing that indicated there was even a person alive in there anymore. Ozpin pressed harder, his eyes locked on her face. “I am sorry for what you had to go through.”

In the end, it was little more effort than extinguishing a match with a puff of breath.

* * *

Tai approached them slowly, his eyes on the rubble of what had once been Ozpin’s academy, library, and home. He sighed, rubbing his arm slowly. “Most of the guards are none the wiser about what caused this… I doubt they’ll remember much of today at all, so we can say what we need to....” His eyes trailed over to the body in the debris, narrowing. “That’s her?”

“That’s her,” Ozpin agreed, walking to them slowly. He leant forward, his hand reaching out towards Oscar. “Are you hurt?”

“I… I’m fine. That was…” The boy trailed off, his eyes still wide, taking in the remnants of what had happened. That much power would be in his hands one day? It was impossible to imagine.

“Company,” Qrow murmured, glancing over his shoulder. Yang, Ruby, Blake, Mercury, and Emerald. The very people he’d told to stay back and away from the fight. The five of them slowed as they approached, staring in awe at the destruction around them. Emerald was the first of them to see Cinder, her breath catching in her throat.

“Is she…?”

“I’m afraid so.” Ozpin walked to the group slowly, his eyes lighting on each in turn. “My, quite the eclectic group you all are… Perhaps we should have a conversation somewhere more private?”

Mercury squeezed Emerald’s shoulder, keeping her back with a small shake of his head. They’d agreed to leave Cinder. They knew how it might end. Still, the two of them lagged behind as the rest of the group began the journey back to Tai’s, voices low between them.

“The others…” Emerald stole another glance at Cinder, swallowing. “Do you think they’ll…?”

“I think we’ll know soon, one way or another.” Mercury wrapped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in close. “Come on, we’re better off without her. It’s okay.”

“I know, but…” She wiped a hand across her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “Just… give me a minute to say goodbye, okay?”

“One minute.” He’d never held on to such attachments. He owed them, that was all. Worked for them. Mercury let Emerald go, turned his back as she approached Cinder.

In death, she looked more like the woman that had offered the starving half-fae girl a chance, less like the monster she’d become since returning from the Eastern Mountains. Emerald knelt beside her, pressed her palm lightly over Cinder’s forehead and spoke lowly. Ancient words, older than any written language, taught to her by her elders. A peaceful passing. Words she’d heard her mother saying the night she’d finally left. Let there be no return to this place. Let there be no lingering duties.

Her thumb brushed against Cinder’s cheek, the skin cool under her touch. “Rest easy, Cinder,” she whispered again, just in case any part of the woman remained to hear her. “It’s okay now.” She stood, hurried back to Mercury and let him lead her away. His arm over her shoulders was warm, alive, and just the kind of comfort she needed but would never ask for.

The room was quiet when they entered, taking a seat at the table. Mercury found Yang’s hand under it, grasped and squeezed rather than using words. After a moment, Ruby passed out drinks, taking a seat and clearing her throat. “Um… So that was… a thing.”

“We thought she’d be going after the Golden Beacon. That’s what she said,” Mercury offered, his eyes on the glass of water in front of him. “So we came here…”

“A fair decision. There’s… quite a bit more than that going on, though.” Ozpin took a sip of his drink, looking among them. “Do you know why our gracious host is called the Golden Beacon?”

Looks from the younger members of the group, shrugs around. Yang and Ruby looked to their dad, well aware of the way his eyes darted away. He just  _ was _ . “Golden Dragons bring wealth, and wealth brings people. Like a beacon?” Yang guessed, shrugging half-heartedly. 

“A beacon is a light in the darkness you use to find your way home. The wealth of gold is a… I suppose pleasant side-effect, but the true nature of the beacon is to pierce the darkness and guide the way to safety among the light. He protects this place just by being near it.” Ozpin set his mug down, looking among them all, his eyes settling on Emerald and Mercury. “The same could be said about Atlas’s Platinum Wiseman, or Vacuo’s Dune Dragon… Or, of course, the guardians of Mistral.”

“The Dragon, the Siren, and the Phoenix…” Emerald kept her eyes on the table, her fingers curling over the edge of it. “What happens if one of them dies?”

“Well, that’d be a bit of a disaster, wouldn’t it?” His smile didn’t calm her nerves, the words sending a jolt through Emerald. “But there are plans for such things. Power has to go somewhere. Ideally, they’d choose, but occasionally… Occasionally it goes a bit wild.”

Qrow pushed off the wall, his arms uncrossing as he left the room. Ozpin’s head turned slightly, watching him go. His gaze moved to Oscar, a mild lift and drop of his shoulders. Let him go, in not so many words. 

Yang frowned, leaning forward on the table. “Okay, but enough half-information. Where’d the Amber Dragon’s power go?”

“That… We don’t know. There’s different rules for all of them. I’d need to do some research to know exactly where hers might go, and… unfortunately my library’s under a bit of a mess.” 

Emerald’s head perked up finally, her eyes widening. “I know somewhere we can go.”

* * *

The pair let themselves into the book shop despite the closed sign in the window, crossing to the desk and ringing the bell. “Tukson!” Emerald called, tapping the bell a second time. “We need something!”

Surprisingly, he actually came from the back, eyes narrowed and disgruntled. “I still don’t want trouble. Don’t you kids know how to read?”

“Nope.” Mercury leaned on the counter, tapping his fingers lightly. “Good news, though, today we’re the opposite of trouble.”

“You broke into my shop, kid, you’re trouble.”

“But perhaps I’m not,” Ozpin’s voice from the door, a mild nod from the other side of the broken glass. “I’ll make them fix that, by the way.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes widened, before he hurried around the desk, opened the door formally to let the man in. “This is… unexpected. I thought you had your own collection.”

“It’s a long story.”

Mercury leaned close to Emerald, pitching his voice low. “I’m glad we didn’t kill this guy.”

“These two miscreants are yours, then?” Tukson led the way to the back, pausing to give Emerald and Mercury a look. It might have said ‘stay back’ but they chose to read it as ‘come along,’ following after the pair to the back room. “What can I help you with today?”

“You have copies of the original Amber Dragon legends, yes?” 

“Specifically the Amber Dragon? Your… students? Were looking for information on the Mistral Guardians earlier in the week.” He glanced back at them, holding up a hand. “No closer for you two. There’s plenty of reading material in the main store.”

Emerald huffed, crossing her arms as the door shut between them. She turned back to Mercury, rolling her eyes and leaning on the wall. “Great, now he’s just going to keep being cryptic. Why even make us lead the way here if he already knew Tukson had these books?”

“I’unno.” Mercury shrugged, wandering back towards the front of the shop. “My guess? He wants to know just how much we actually know while not revealing any of what he knows. We might want to play this close…” He glanced at the closed door, frowning. “Or… We earn some trust by revealing everything.”

“Let’s… wait and see. Depends on what happens next.”

“Sounds like you’re in it for the long term.”

“Aren’t you?” Her red eyes stayed on him, piercing through the indifference Mercury usually exuded.

Still, her stare couldn’t get more out of him than a shrug. “For now.”

The creak of a door ended their conversation, both turning to watch as Ozpin and Tukson left the room. The men spoke quietly before Ozpin rejoined the two in the main part of the store. He led the way quietly outside, cane tapping lightly on the ground.

“Okay… so…” Emerald started, glancing at Mercury with raised eyebrows. “What now?”

“Things will take care of themselves. For now… There’s some things I was wondering if you two would tell me about?”

Mercury frowned, his eyes darting to Emerald. So much for any ‘wait and decide’ approach. “Whatever you need to know.”

* * *

It wasn’t his idea of a perfect plan, but it was… close to what the original plan had been. Moved forward by a bit and with additional company was all.

Company he didn’t particularly want.

Qrow groaned, rubbing his temples. Ruby was going to Atlas regardless, visiting her friend Weiss. Oscar was supposed to go in a matter of months, escorted by Qrow. Yang, Blake, Mercury, and Emerald were… less than welcome additions.

“I’m not a baby-sitter.”

“Good. We’re not babies.” Mercury seemed just as enthused by the ‘adult supervision,’ his eyes narrowed and arms crossed. Of course, now that he’d agreed to help he was stuck. And he knew Atlas perhaps better than any of them. Emerald had only been once for only a few weeks. The others had never been there at all, save for Qrow.

They packed minimal supplies, arrangements made to shorten travel times and keep them staying in relative comfort in Atlas. The worst of it would be the cold, Mercury remembered, fighting down a shiver. It always made his legs act up to be in the chill air of the north.

Taiyang didn’t speak as they left, though his eyes lingered on each of them in turn. He’d spoken his final goodbye to people he loved too many times to say it again now. Instead he addressed Mercury, face serious. “Everything will be fine.”

“Uh, yeah?”

The Dragon nodded firmly, his hand clapping on the silver-haired man’s shoulder and almost knocking him over. “Don’t get my daughter pregnant,” he finally declared, letting go and letting Mercury leave with the rest of them.


	14. Atlas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ruby Rose, I’d like you to meet my older sister, Winter Schnee.”  
> \--  
> “You have your successor chosen?”

“I hate the cold.”

“Sand’s worse.”

“Urgh, don’t even make me  _ think _ about sand--”

“Will you two  _ quit complaining _ ?” Qrow’s voice snapped them both into silence, Emerald and Mercury exchanging a look. 

“Sand,” the green-haired girl whispered, snickering and dropping back to walk beside Ruby.

Mercury shook his head, his hands bundling deeper into his coat as he picked up the pace to walk next to Yang. She slid an arm over his shoulders, her bare skin still warm despite the snowflakes in the air. “How you holding up?” She asked, voice low.

“I’m… okay.” He shrugged, slipping his arm around her waist. “Looking at you makes me cold, though.”

“I keep trying to tell her that,” Blake nudged Yang into him lightly, shaking her head. “And she keeps going ‘nah, it’s fine’. Yang, you’re barely clothed.”

“I run warm. Must be a dragon thing.”

The big city of Atlas towered over them on all sides, high buildings with rails running between them, train cars rushing from one place to another. It was so far removed from what they’d seen in Mistral, or even Vale… but familiar. Things had changed since he’d been there, the train cars seemed to be moving much smoother than he remembered. Mercury looked around the city, biting his lip. He’d done a lot here. Killed some people… Done worse to others. 

“Okay,” Qrow turned to the group, his eyes marking over each of them. “Ruby’s going to Weiss’s place. I’m taking Oscar to see the Platinum Dragon, and you four…” He frowned, his eyes narrowed. “You four are going to stay  _ out _ of trouble.”

“Absolutely.” Yang beamed, her arms draping over Blake and Mercury’s shoulders. “Just remember what a sock on the door means, Uncle Qrow.”

“Ew.” Emerald made a face, looking around. “I’m gonna get familiar with the city park.” She took off with barely a wave.

Ruby shrugged and smiled. “Off to Weiss’s, then. Wish me luck, guys! ...No seriously, wish me luck, I’m gonna get so lost.”

“We’ll meet up back at this hotel every night. If you’re not here I’m assuming you’re dead!” Qrow called after the two of them, shaking his head and turning to Oscar. “You ready for this?”

“As ready as I’m gonna be.”

Alone at last, a hotel room in front of them… Mercury raised an eyebrow, looking between Yang and Blake. “Neither of you want to just sleep, do you?” Of course they didn’t and he groaned. “I’m not playing tour guide for you.”

“Aw, but we’re just a couple of girls in a new city. We need a big, strong man to protect us, right?” Yang batted her eyelashes, pressing herself closer to him.

“Right, sure.” Blake rolled her eyes, her arms crossing. “Honestly I’d rather be somewhere I don’t have to wear this stupid hat.” 

She was outnumbered and she knew it. Yang huffed, looking to the hotel. “Fine, spoilsports. Let’s go to the hotel room and--”

“Warm up.”

“Take off this stupid hat.”

“I like your hat!” Yang reached up, flicking the puffball on top of Blake’s hat lightly. “It’s cute. But maybe that’s just because it’s on you.”

Mercury led them inside, up to the room. He groaned, dropping onto the bed and feeling the throb at the joints between his legs and prosthetics. Sure, he could tough it out, force himself to keep going, look strong through a lot of pain… But with these two, he could let go of at least that little bit. That was okay.

Weight settled onto the bed next to him, a warm hand trailing up his side lightly. “It’s that bad?”

“Cold makes it worse.”

“Sorry… I just figured…”

Mercury turned, pressed himself to her thigh. “It’s fine. I’m used to toughing it out.”

Her hand slid upward, trailed lightly through his hair. “You don’t have to. It’s okay to ask us to slow down, or stop. To say that you’re hurting.”

He snickered, feeling the weight of Blake settle on his other side. “Yeah, easier said than done.”

Blake’s ears twitched on her head, her hair flattened around them from the hat. “Inside’s better anyways… Atlas doesn’t exactly have the best relations with faunus…”

“Oh?” Two sets of eyes turned to her, red bright and curious, black narrowed slightly. “Why not?”

“It’s… complicated…” She settled herself against Mercury’s back, arms wrapping around him. “They don’t think we’re people up here. Think the only people are human. They…” She shrugged. “Well, not a lot of faunus come up to Atlas willingly.”

“That’s bullshit. You’re just as much of a person as anyone else.” Yang made a face, draping herself over the two of them. “They can’t just act like you’re not.”

“But they do.” Mercury nodded, looking up to the ceiling. “I… Some of the work I did... “ He shook it off, frowning. “Well, none of it was pleasant to think about.”

“Experiments?” Blake guessed, her forehead pressing to his shoulder. “Finding them, taking them… disposing if you don’t get what you want.”

“Not me. Watts, the guy I worked for.” He sighed, moving to wrap his arms around both of them, tightening for a moment. “It wasn’t the best decision I ever made.”

Quiet over them, steady breathing. Yang slid her fingers through Blake’s hair, stroked her ears gently and pressed kisses against them. “It’s okay… Right?”

Golden eyes were narrowed, focused on Mercury. “Why’d you do it?”

“Blake…”

“I’m not mad. I’m just… I want to know why.”

“So you can decide if my reason is good enough? If my life was tragic enough to make it worth theirs? It wasn’t. But I got out of a situation and into another one. Worked to earn the legs I have now and left when I had the chance.” He met Blake’s eyes, waited until they softened. “My old man took my legs off with a pickaxe because I tried to run away. Seemed to think I should just stay there and take it when he’d get drunk and hit me every night. After that I didn’t try to run away anymore, I just… got myself strong enough to stop him. For good.”

“And after that?”

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go. An opportunity came up and I… took it. Shut off whatever guilt or anything like that might come with it. Kept it back there, in the mines, in the dark. I know I didn’t do great things, but the things I did kept me alive. Kept me moving.” He reached up, stroked a hand through her hair gently.

“Okay…” She reached up, found his hand and squeezed. “Sorry, you don’t have to… Don’t have to keep going. It’s fine.”

“We should just get some rest, like you said,” Yang declared, stretching herself out over the two of them and closing her eyes. “Mmm… enjoy the company.”

“More like get suffocated by you. Do you realize how heavy you are?” Blake snickered, shifting and pushing Yang off her, settling more comfortably on the bed. “Anyone put a sock on the door?”

“Nope.”

* * *

Warm arms pulled her into a hug, the white-haired girl’s beaming smile enough to erase all the anxieties of traveling alone through Atlas. Ruby squeezed Weiss close, leaning up on her toes to be eye-to-eye with the other girl. “I knew you missed me.”

“Ugh, as if!” Weiss let her go with a more sedate smile, her hands folding neatly behind her back. “Like I would miss an immature, impulsive, impolite, imaginative imbecile like you.”

“You snuck a compliment in there.” She snickered, falling into step beside the taller girl as Weiss led her away from the train station and to a waiting car. 

Ruby had only gone to Atlas Academy for a month, her interest in mechanical design leading her there, her skill with it getting her accepted to the prestigious school two years before most students were even considered. Weiss had been her room mate and through a lot of effort on her part, she’d managed to just crack the ice around the other girl’s heart by the time she had to leave, called back home by her dad because Yang had disappeared in the middle of the night.

Her first three letters to Weiss had gone unanswered and she’d almost given up, written a final one telling the other girl goodbye. It’d never been mailed, a response from Weiss at the post office when she went to send it, almost eight pages of the Atlesian girl’s neat, tight script detailing how much everyone at the academy missed her, how classes were going, what she was working on, asking questions about Ruby’s life back in Vale that were follow-ups of the things Ruby had told her over those three letters.

They’d been writing for almost a year, two or three letters each every month. Phone calls when they could. This was the first visit since Ruby had left the school and things had fallen easily into the peace that she knew they could have between them.

The driver opened the door for them, Ruby hesitating as she slid in. There was someone else in the car… She glanced at Weiss, noticing the way the other girl’s back had straightened.

“Ruby Rose, I’d like you to meet my older sister, Winter Schnee.”

Winter. Weiss had written plenty about her in her letters, her words nearly worshipping the older girl. Ruby straightened herself up, nodding quickly. “It is, um, it’s very nice to--to make your cordial acquaintance.”

“Likewise, Miss Rose.” Winter touched a hand to the seat, inviting her to sit. 

It wasn’t awkward at all, sitting between Weiss and Winter. There definitely wasn’t a chill in the air despite the car’s heat. Ruby folded her hands in her lap, keeping her back straight as the women on either side of her seemed to do. The silence was killing her, not even a radio playing in the car to divert her attention.

“So, um…” She turned slightly to face Weiss, keeping her voice to a low whisper with an effort. “Has it been snowing up here?”

“Hm? Oh, um… yeah?” Weiss raised an eyebrow curiously, her fingers curling in her lap for a moment. “We had some last week, but we don’t usually get a lot of snow until later in the year.”

“Oh, that… that’s neat. I was just, well, we don’t get a lot of snow in Vale and I was hoping I’d get to see it.”

“Vale’s too far south for regular snow,” Winter’s voice spoke up, her normal tone loud in the silent car. “Though the mountaintops usually see some, surely you’ve seen it there.”

“Yeah, I guess, but it’s different than snow on the ground like this, it’s more… clouds getting cold? I dunno...” Ruby shifted uncomfortably, her words trailing off at the look on Winter’s face.

“You really are better with mechanicals than meteorological.”

“Um, thanks?” That probably wasn’t a compliment, but hearing Weiss giggle next to her was better than nothing. Ruby relaxed a fraction, leaning back into the seat and closing her eyes. She’d have to talk to Weiss alone as soon as possible, but… For now, it was just nice to see her again.

* * *

It was different from Tai’s place, that was for sure. Cold steel lined the interior of the mountain the Platinum Dragon had carved out as his own, their footsteps loud in the metal hallways. Clear glass windows every few feet gave views of the city, more cold steel and clinical cleanliness. Qrow made a face, his steps pausing.

“Something wrong?” Oscar spoke up just behind him, tilting his head up to follow Qrow’s gaze out the window. 

“No, it’s just…” He took his hands from his pockets, pressed one to the wall and closed his eyes. This whole thing was… “What do you hear?”

Feet shuffled next to him, slow breathing becoming deeper. After a minute, Oscar sighed. “Nothing? What am I supposed to hear?”

“Actually, nothing’s the right answer. And it’s… unsettling.” His fingers drummed the glass lightly, watching Oscar in the reflection. “How much did Ozpin actually tell you?”

“Tell me? Almost nothing. Teach me… Plenty. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time.”

Qrow shook his head, stifling a laugh. “Okay, now you sound like him. I ask a question, you say things, it feels like an answer but I don’t actually have any new information. What do you actually know about all of this? About guardians and wizards?”

“You’re asking if I know who they are.” He exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “Some. I know about Taiyang--I did before I met him. And… Ironwood, the Platinum Dragon… He told me about how there weren’t just dragons watching over Mistral… Um…”

More than he expected. How long had this boy been with Ozpin, anyways? Qrow stepped back, his back arching as he stretched. “Okay, that’s fine. Let’s go, Ironwood shouldn’t be too far from here.”

The only sound was still their footsteps, echoing around them in the still corridor. The city right outside the window, life and noise and not a peep of it in here. Sure, Jimmy liked his peace and quiet, but this was… unsettling. The entire outside world had been cut off from them, all signs of life snuffed out like a candle. Everything except the movement he could see through the windows.

A door waited for them at the end of the hall, more plain steel. If it wasn’t for the little red light above it, he’d almost think it was just another wall… Qrow stepped up to it, pounding his fist against it. “Ironwood! It’s Qrow… and a friend.”

Deafening silence stretched out just long enough he was tempted to turn and leave, before air hissed. The door slid sideways into the wall, displaying a wide cavern, a small metal platform on the other side of the door for them to stand on. “Oh for the love of…” Qrow walked onto the platform, nodding Oscar along behind him. “You’re gonna have fun with these theatrics every day, huh, kid?”

“I think I’ll get used to it.” Still, Oscar stuck close to his side for the time being, his gaze tracking over as much of the cavern as possible. He staggered as the platform began to move, descending slowly into the room. At least now there was some noise, the soft hiss of air controlling the speed of their drop. 

And there he was, waiting for them at the bottom, half-flesh and half-metal. Qrow gave the Platinum Dragon a brief nod, his hand setting on Oscar’s back and guiding him forward. “This is Ozpin’s protege, Oscar. Oscar, this is James Ironwood, the Platinum Dragon.”

Ironwood’s aesthetic may have been cold steel, and Qrow knew from experience that his demeanor could match, but the smile he gave Oscar was all warmth and welcoming. His hand enveloped the boy’s smaller one, squeezing once. “Welcome to my home, Oscar. I must admit, I was surprised when Ozpin said you’d be coming to study with me so soon--but don’t mistake that surprise for displeasure. I’m eager to have you as a pupil.”

“James, a word?” Qrow jerked his head to the side, stepping away.

“If you’ll give me a moment…” Ironwood joined him, voice pitched low. “Yes?”

“This isn’t just about teaching him. You have to keep him safe.  _ She _ sent someone to Oz’s home to attack him, and if Tai and I hadn’t been there, she would have gotten them both… I don’t think Oscar realizes how close it was.” Even thinking about it, he could picture himself being too late by seconds, picture himself picking up the boy’s shattered body from that black hand.

“Ozpin couldn’t handle a single interloper?”

“She had a Grimm arm. If they’re on  _ her _ side… well…”

“I’ll be wary.” His gaze stayed level on Qrow, waiting.

“You have your successor chosen?” 

“I do… Someone who’s shown great promise in this line of work. I was actually planning to inform her soon.” Ironwood nodded, looking over his shoulder to Oscar. “It’s really that bad, isn’t it?”

“According to Oz, it’s the worst it’s been in a long time. We all need to be ready. Once Oscar’s settled in with you, I’m going to Vacuo to talk to the Dune Dragon.” Qrow looked away, a frown tugging down the corner of his mouth. “And Jimmy?”

Irritation at the nickname, Ironwood’s brows drawing together. “Yes?”

“You should really consider a new design. This one is just… unsettlingly quiet.”


	15. Old Friends, New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ve been thinking…”
> 
> “Good, you need to do that more often.”
> 
> “You’re terrible. You need to learn how to fight.”

Ruby nearly bounced with excitement as Weiss and Winter led her through the lab, her hands grasped together firmly in front of her to resist the urge to touch… well,  _ everything _ . Vale was great, her dad’s place was great, but she  _ lived _ for the sort of technology that was commonplace in Atlas, wanted to get inside it and figure out how it worked, take it apart and rebuild it better and--

“You haven’t changed.” Weiss smiled, setting a hand on her shoulder as they came to a stop. “As soon as you can move up here, we’ll set you up with a lab and you can play with all the shiny things you want.”

“You have  _ no _ idea how excited I am just to  _ look  _ at it, Weiss!” Her voice was almost shrill, a barely-contained whisper. 

“I can sort of guess. Do you need a minute alone?” 

“Maybe! I-I mean… Yeah, maybe.” They both giggled, hands pressing over their mouths to stifle the sound. It was so quiet in the labs, every squeak of a shoe or huff of breath seemed amplified. Though she couldn’t help herself, Ruby could feel how out of place her laughter was here.

The pad beside the door turned green, smooth metal sliding up and allowing them access to one of the labs. Ruby looked around eagerly, her bright eyes taking in those inside. Scientists in stark white coats surrounded a table, holding charts and talking to each other in near-gibberish. At the back of the room stood a man in a dark charcoal suit, his appearance heavily contrasting the sterile white of the rest of the room.

Those around the table moved aside briefly and Ruby’s attention was drawn to it, to the shock of colors there. Bright orange, electric green, nothing that looked like it belonged in a lab.

“Is that… a girl?”

“That…” Weiss puffed her chest up, beaming. “That is Penny. Dr. Watts and Winter made her.”

* * *

They must have drifted off to sleep at some point, bodies tangled together, feeding on each others comforts. Yang sat up with a groan, stretching out and rubbing her eyes, looking around the room. This far north the sun set early, the red horizon not much of an indicator of time of day. She slid out of the bed, tossed the blanket over Mercury and Blake with an affectionate smile and made her way to the hotel’s bathroom. A hot bath sounded like the best thing in the world at the moment…

Yang lowered herself into the water with a content sigh, tilting her head back to rest on the edge of the tub. Pulled up into a knot at the base of her neck, her hair made a perfect pillow, eyes slipping closed as she relaxed. There were a lot of things they would have to do, a lot of answers they would have to find. Hopefully, Mercury would be able to hunt down this Watts guy and get him to talk. If they could figure out what Cinder had been after with her attacks on the Amber Dragon and Ozpin, maybe they could figure out what the next move was. Neither Mercury nor Emerald knew that much of the overall plan, just what steps they were taking immediately.

They’d gone to Vale with a target of the Golden Beacon… would Mercury really have done it? Would he have killed her dad. Part of her shouted that of course he wouldn’t, he cared about her, but there was another part of her insisting quietly but firmly that she remember the look in his eyes that night in Kuchinashi. The cold, calculating gaze that had told her to stay back not for her safety, but because he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her if she intervened. She’d overlooked that cold calculation in Higanbana, in the panic and rush to leave.

Everyone deserved a second chance and for every moment of cold calculation she’d seen on his face, a part of her pushed forward the times he’d been different. Instances of caring about her, of holding her in his arms, of asking if she was okay. Conversations they’d had, however fleeting, where he’d opened up. The warmth of his lips on her skin before they fell asleep. 

She had to believe that he was different. That he wasn’t the cold killer the moonlight had painted him as. That whatever happened, he’d stay by her side, let her morals guide him.

How else could she stay with him?

* * *

“Salutations!”

“Good afternoon, Penny.” Winter crossed to the girl she had apparently ‘made,’ her usual stoic expression turning briefly to a warm smile. “I have someone special for you to meet today.”

“Oh?” Penny’s head turned smoothly on her neck, tracking across the room. Her bright green eyes landed on Ruby, blanking for a moment before lighting up. “You are an unfamiliar face!”

“Oh, um, h-hello…” Ruby squeaked, stepping forward when Weiss prompted her. “I’m Ruby Rose, from Vale. It’s very nice to meet you, Penny.”

She stood from the table, crossed the room despite the wires that stretched taut with her steps and enveloped Ruby into a rib-crushing hug. “Ruby Rose, from Vale, it is  _ very _ nice to meet you.” Her arms released and Ruby gasped in a breath, watching with amazement as the created girl’s face contorted. “I have hugged too tight again.”

“I’m fine. So you’re…”

“I am an artificial intelligence with a synthetic body, developed to study the nature of the soul. I--Access Restricted.” Her eyes blanked for a moment, face smoothing to nothing as her voice changed from expressive to mechanical. After a moment, Penny seemed to restart, smiling widely again. “Hello, Ruby Rose, from Vale.”

Ruby glanced at Weiss, receiving only a shrug in response. Winter spoke up, her hand settling on Penny’s shoulder. “There are still some… areas of concern with the programming. Dr. Watts has been taking care of the majority of that side of it. Penny is proving to be quite a bit more… curious about her own nature than we anticipated. There’s some information that we’ve had to restrict her from sharing.”

“Oh, that makes sense…”

“Ruby, how about I show you some of the other labs? There’s one dedicated to wingsuits that I think you’d be really interested in.” Weiss took her hand, giving a brief wave to Winter and Penny before dragging the girl out of the room. “Sorry, I know it’s rude, but… it freaks me out a little…”

“I guess she is sort of… uncanny?” 

“Not Penny, she’s fine if you don’t mind socially awkward. Dr. Watts… he’s a creep.” Weiss shuddered, shaking her head. “I’ll be so glad when Winter’s done working with him.”

* * *

She heard him come in, felt his presence settle onto the edge of the bathtub even with her eyes closed. The water had cooled, she’d probably drifted off again, but Yang only lifted a hand and let it rest against his upper thigh. “Is Blake still asleep?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you want to join me in the bath?”

“Can’t.” Mercury tapped below his knee lightly, reminded her of the metal under his pantleg. He trailed his hand up, found hers and ran his fingers against her skin slowly. “I’ve been thinking…”

“Good, you need to do that more often.”

He snorted, dropping his hand to splash her. “You’re terrible. You need to learn how to fight.”

“Um, did you not see what I did in Kuchinashi?” Yang crossed her arms, glaring up at him. “I like totally almost punched her arm off!”

“You got lucky. You got very, very lucky. Did you bring those gauntlets with you?”

“Yeah. Just in case I need to kick some more ass. Yours is looking pretty good for it.”

Mercury hummed, looking up to the ceiling. “We take off the embellishment and add something with a little more… spark. Then I teach you how to fight with them.” He leaned over, reaching down and pulling the plug from the bath, standing up. “Come on.”

“What, right now?”

“No time like the present. Who knows what sort of awful people we’ll run across in Atlas.”

“I see two of them right now.” Blake’s voice from the doorway, her arms crossing as she leaned on the wall. “Who abandoned me in bed and let me get cold. But… a good fight should warm me up.”

They needed to find somewhere to fight, of course, somewhere that wouldn’t draw too much attention but also wouldn’t risk too much damage. The park seemed like a good solution, open field of grass in the middle of the city and no one around after dark. Granted, the temperature was also rapidly dropping, lowering his ability to move quickly. He needed the practice in this environment, just as much as Yang needed practice in general.

Yang stood in front of him, gauntlets on her wrists, her back arching with a stretch. “Mmm… this looks good?”

“This looks good.” Blake pulled the weapon from her back, wrapping the ribbon of it around her hand. Mercury pulled a knife from his side, spinning it slowly. “So, how do we wanna do this?”

“Short range for now, I think? We can figure out distance later.” He walked to Yang slowly, circling her. “You ready?”

“I’m ready whe--” She grunted, dropping to one knee as he kicked the back of her leg. “You asshole.”

“You said you were ready. Someone trying to kill you isn’t even gonna give you that much.” He stepped back as she stood, stance moving defensive. “Let’s start easy. Just try to disarm me.”

Yang took a breath, looking him up and down, assessing. She clenched her fist, moving in with two steps, taking a wide swing at his knife-wielding arm. Her eyes narrowed as he stepped back, an easy dodge, her tail whipping out and catching his ankle just as he lifted his foot. Even if it wouldn’t hurt, it'd slow him down, trip him up. Her steps chased him, should checking into his chest as she grasped his knife-wrist and squeezed.

Mercury dropped the weapon, grunting as his back hit the ground, Yang's weight on top of him. She grinned, pressing his wrist to the dirt and hovering over him. “Okay, got anything hard for me now?” She eased up slowly, letting him go stepping back.

Blake laughed behind them, moving forward and picking up the knife as Mercury collected himself. “You’re sloppy, but it makes you pretty unpredictable. And a lot of people don’t account for a tail.”

“It’s a good advantage to have, but sloppy leaves too many openings. That wouldn’t have happened if I was counter-attacking,” Mercury agreed, rubbing his wrist. “But if you want a challenge…” He glanced at Blake, taking his knife back and raising his eyebrows. “You think she stands a chance?”

“No.”

The two of them grinned, turning to Yang and looking her up and down slowly. Blake eased to the left, Mercury moving forward. Yang tensed, her arms raising defensively. She’d been promising when her dad started teaching her to fight, had picked it up quickly. The lessons had never been dangerous, never had weapons, were overlooked by the careful eyes of her father.

Something from her left and Yang jumped back, whipped the projectile out of the air with her tail. She ducked low as Mercury came at her from the right, lifted her arm to block the kick that Mercury dropped on her. She cleared her head as quickly as possible, shoved him off and turned to counter. Something hit her back, small but rapid irritations that she swatted at distractedly with her tail.

“Good job, you’re dead.” Blake’s voice behind her, the catgirl stopping her assault. “I mean, I loaded it with salt shot this time but in a real fight… You  _ probably _ shouldn’t dismiss the person with the gun in favor of hand to hand.”

Mercury nodded, crossing his arms across his chest. “It wasn’t terrible, a good focus split, but choosing who to take down first when you’re outnumbered has to become second nature.”

Yang made a face, punching him in the shoulder. “A knife two inches away from me or a gun six feet away. You two made it unfair.”

“Fights are never fair when someone’s going to end up dead at the end of it.” Blake stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Yang’s middle and kissing her shoulder. “But you  _ did _ do pretty good.”

“Don’t pity me.” She turned, kissing the other girl lightly. “Hey… I have an idea…”

They parted and Mercury tensed, watching them closely. “Oh, I see.” He shifted his stance, kept his eyes on Blake as she moved to his left. Rapid movement to his right and he ducked low, shoved his shoulder into Yang’s stomach and pushed her off him. He kept pushing, got her to the ground as salt shot fired over his head. Mercury wrapped an arm around Yang and rolled, held her on top of him as a human shield.

Blake stopped firing, moving in close instead. Mercury shoved Yang off himself, grunting as she didn’t move. “What--”

Her tail tightened around his thigh, squeezing down as her back pressed more firmly to his chest. As tightly as he held her, she had him in an equal grip. “This feels like checkmate, but I’ve got someone on my side to take you out while you’re stuck.”

“We are just… too good at this.” He snorted, kissing her neck lightly. “Okay, you can let me up now. You know, assuming you don’t want to just kill me here.”

“That  _ is _ tempting…” Blake pressed her gun to his forehead, leaning over them. “Bang.”

* * *

The rest of the labs and their equipment were more than enough to hold Ruby’s attention. Weiss led her from place to place, introducing her to the technologies currently being developed. “The Platinum Dragon has been helping Winter with a lot of these personally… I don’t know what it is, but he suddenly took a real interest in her these last few months.”

“You think he likes her?” Ruby asked, leaning over Weiss’ shoulder and studying a model of a wingsuit. The span was greater than her own, but nowhere near as wide as her dad’s. Unless there were thrusters, they’d never achieve a decent glide, nevermind lift. 

“No, it’s not like that. It’s strictly professional, but…” Weiss glanced over her shoulder, frowning. “Most of what I’m hearing is between Ironwood and my father… A lot of arguments about how he won’t let Father access the information and instead goes through Winter. A lot of…” She trailed off, clearing her throat. “Ah, this here is our latest attempt. We’re trying to recreate the motion of birds at the moment, the glide and lift specifically. It’s controlled with these arms, here..”

Ruby watched as Weiss explained, jumping in and offering suggestions after a moment. By the time Winter came to collect them to leave, they’d completely remodeled the wings, expanded the size and added a feature to fold them down against the wearer’s back for ease of transport on the ground. Winter raised an eyebrow, briefly glancing over the changes before nodding. 

“I see why my sister likes you,” she offered, guiding them back to the car. “Would you care to join us for dinner?”

Ruby exchanged a look with Weiss, biting her lip. She knew what ‘family dinners’ were like at Weiss’ house, had been trying to come up with excuses to avoid them. Weiss rescued her from the awkward situation, speaking up in her place. “Actually, Ruby’s sister and a few friends have also come to Atlas, and she was hoping to introduce me to them tonight.”

“Yeah, we’re all staying in a hotel downtown so I was going to have Weiss over there for dinner, if that’s okay?”

Winter considered them, nodding shortly. “Of course. Weiss, have a car come for you before curfew.”

“Of course, Winter.”

The driver dropped them off at the hotel Ruby instructed, both girls waving before rushing inside. Technically she was sharing a room with Emerald, something she’d alternately dreaded and looked forward to. She didn’t know the other girl at all, wasn’t sure how comfortable they’d be around each other… But Emerald also mostly kept to herself, which meant she probably wouldn’t note Ruby’s comings and goings. She loved her dad dearly, but after sixteen years of living under his thumb and only a month-long taste of freedom, she was relishing being unsupervised on this trip to Atlas. 

Ruby dropped onto the bed, stretching out and feeling the weight shift as Weiss settled next to her. She rolled over, looking the white-haired girl up and down with a grin before tugging her to lie down. “So, how late is curfew?”

“Late enough. Is anyone actually expecting you to join them for dinner?”

“Nope,” she popped the ‘p,’ beaming. “I’m sure Yang’s busy with Mercury and Blake, and I don’t really know what Emerald does but she’ll--”

The door opened, as if on cue, the green-haired girl walking into the room and freezing. She looked the other two up and down slowly, quickly darting her eyes away. “I just need to grab my bag.”

Ruby froze, watching as Emerald crossed the room, picked up her bag, and started back to the door. That look in her face, like she knew she was interrupting something she shouldn’t… The half-dragon couldn’t stand it. “Emerald, wait! Weiss and I were just about to go get dinner, do you… want to come with us?”

“Oh, I don’t want to interrupt anything…”

“It’s fine,” Weiss spoke up, standing and smiling. “We’d love to have you along.”

“Yeah?” Hope in her eyes, looking between the two of them quickly. 

That solidified it in Ruby’s mind. She stood as well, crossing the room to Emerald and taking the girl’s hands in hers gently. “Absolutely.” Her hands were ice cold and Ruby rubbed them briskly for a moment. “We’d love to have you along.”


	16. Heritage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ruby, um… Dr. Watts is, how do I say this… Evil? Would you guys call him evil?”
> 
> “Considering what he apparently did to faunus…” Blake muttered, her eyes narrowing. “Yeah, I’d call him evil.”

Her day hadn't been the greatest.

Atlas was too far from her comfort zone, hard concrete, high buildings of glass and steel. She preferred the forests of Mistral... Or, lately, the ancient mountain Taiyang had carved into his home. She'd sat high on its cliffs when she had the time, felt the sun on her skin and the rocks under her body, the world of green that yearned to reclaim. It'd been peaceful.

Nothing like that in Atlas and adding onto her discomfort were the people. Too many of them looked at her with wary eyes, kept her from blending in unnoticed. She didn't intend to steal, knew better than to try here, but woman that passed her held their purses closed a little tighter, children gave her a wide berth, and even the men touched a hand over their pocket after she'd passed by.

Emerald had resigned herself to being sequestered in her hotel room until they left, to having her only peace come from the necklace she wore... Until she'd gone back.

Until Ruby's warm hands had held hers and Ruby's kind smile had melted some of the ice she'd built around her heart.

They met Mercury, Yang, and Blake in the lobby, the group of three turning into a group of six and making way to the hotel’s restaurant. Emerald let herself drop back a step, used to being in the background of conversations, of groups. She started to feel fingers on her wrist, looked upt o Ruby’s eyes as the younger girl pulled her gently to sit down.

“So, what’d you do all day?”

“Oh, just um…” She bit her lip, aware of the silence around her, the lull in conversation as attention turned towards her. “Just kinda wandered around. I don’t really know Atlas that well, so…”

“If you want, you can come with us tomorrow?” Weiss offered, her smile soft and genuine. “I was going to bring Ruby out to some of the more… awe-inspiring sights outside of the city.”

“That…” Emerald glanced across the table, met Mercury’s eyes and saw his nod. “That would be nice.” Of course he’d want her out of the way, he had his two to focus on. She didn’t need to be his pity-companion anymore. With an effort, she shoved the thoughts off, turning her full attention to Ruby. “So, did you see anything interesting today?”

“Oh, yeah! We went to the lab where Weiss’ sister is working and you won’t believe what Winter and Dr. Watts--”

“Doctor fucking _what_?!” Mercury’s sharp words cut off all conversation among and around them, multiple pairs of wide eyes turning to him.

Somehow, only Ruby remained calm. “No, it’s pronounced Watts. They made Penny, she’s a… what would you call her, Weiss?”

“I’d call her why is he so shocked about Dr. Watts?” Weiss turned to Mercury, her eyes narrowed.

Yang, Blake, and Emerald were staring slack-jawed as well, their eyes locked on the two. “Ruby…” Yang started, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she continues. “Ruby, um… Dr. Watts is, how do I say this… Evil? Would you guys call him evil?”

“Considering what he apparently did to faunus…” Blake muttered, her eyes narrowing. “Yeah, I’d call him evil.”

“Now wait just a minute.” Weiss’ fork slammed to the table, her eyes narrowed. “Winter checked his records before going to work in his lab, what happened with those faunus was an unfortunate accident, but they were all volunteers.”

“Volunteers, right,” Mercury snorted, sitting back and crossing his arms. “I used to go collect those ‘volunteers’ and lemme tell you, no one who signs a release form they understand comes kicking and screaming.”

The argument erupted, everyone trying to make their point heard, drawing stares from other patrons, waitstaff, and even passersby. Emerald grit her teeth together, her hands both slamming into the table as she stood up. “Stop!”

The silence was almost worse, eyes on her, her arms shaking with the force of her grip on the edge of the table. “Stop…” She repeated, lower, slowly sitting down and looking among the group. “Mercury is right, he used to work for a Dr. Watts who worked with the same person as Cinder. But.” She held up a hand to silence Mercury, well too aware of the smug look on his face. “But it’s also possible that whoever Weiss’ sister is working with is someone else and this is a misunderstanding, or that he’s the same person but has changed.”

“Fat chance,” Mercury muttered, making a face.

“We did it. Other people can, too.” She turned to Ruby, smiling with a calm she didn’t feel. “Tell us more about it, okay? What he did and what he looks like?”

Ruby swallowed, her voice quiet, everyone leaning in and straining to hear her. “He helped Winter make Penny. She’s an artificial intelligence with a constructed body. She’s being used to study the nature of the soul.” Her voice gained confidence, eyes moving around the table. “Dr. Watts… I only saw him for a minute, but he’s tall and thin and has a mustache?”

Mercury hissed in a breath, his fist clenching. “The Watts I worked for was in prosthetics, creating artificial limbs. Tall, thin, mustache, also an asshole. It’s the same guy, Emerald… and I doubt he’s changed.” He looked down, his fist relaxing as Yang set her hand over his. “I doubt he’s capable of change…”

“We should go to the lab,” Blake spoke up, her eyes leveling on Weiss across the table. “Mercury can tell us if Watts is the same person or if this is a weird coincidence, and then we can decide what to do.”

Weiss huffed, nodding reluctantly. “We’ll have to put off sightseeing for another day. I can try to take you all back there tomorrow.”

Yang’s fingers curled over Mercury’s hand, rubbing his knuckles lightly. “I’ll pass, if it’s all the same. I… Have something else on my to do list.”

* * *

Ruby found her on the roof, dropped next to her and laid her head on Yang's shoulder. A warm arm wrapped around her, pulled her in close and fought away the chill of the Atlas night in ways no jacket could. They sat silent in the moonlight, as they had so many times at home, waiting for the moment to be right.

"Are you okay?" Ruby finally asked, tilting her head up to watch Yang's face.

"I... Yeah. I'm glad I came home. Sorry it took me so long." She sighed, feet swinging out over empty air. "When you left for school... Things at home got different. Dad started... He started telling me this stuff and training me and it all just. Got overwhelming."

"What kinda stuff?"

"You know how Ozpin was talking about guardians and powers? He... told me all about that. About his power, his role as the Golden Beacon. And he said... Said he wanted me to take over." Yang shifted her arm, pulling it back and wrapping it around herself. "I panicked. I always figured that I'd leave, start my own life, and suddenly what he was saying... It sounded like a prison sentence. Like I was going to be locked up and forced into this job no one ever asked if I wanted. So I ran."

"Yang..."

She snorted, wiping a hand against her face. "I know, I was dumb about it. Shoulda talked to him, but you didn't see him when he told me about it... I felt like I'd hurt him to question it or refuse it."

"I missed you," Ruby whispered, taking her sister's hand and squeezing. "As soon as I got to Atlas I missed you both so much, I almost turned around and came home. But I knew I wanted to go to Atlas Academy, and I knew it'd be better to leave. So... So you had the right to leave, too." She smiled, dropping her head to Yang's shoulder again. "But I'm glad you're back."

"Me too, sis. Me too."

The moon sailed high in the sky, casting silver-bright light across them as they sat silent. Yang glanced down, her eyes on Ruby’s face, the younger girl’s closed eyelids and steady breathing. Probably fast asleep. It was late. She should get to bed, too.

“I went looking for Mom,” Yang whispered, picking up the younger girl and carrying her back inside. “Dad told me where to find her, but when I got there… I couldn’t bring myself to do it. To ask her if…” The door slid shut behind her, silent moonlight once again coating the rooftops of the world.

* * *

Weiss met them at the entrance to the lab, her eyes darting back to the building. It had been one thing to bring Ruby in and show her around, a single visitor who was just admiring… The group in front of her now would never have been admitted in normal circumstances.

Still, she led the way inside, her voice carrying in the quiet hall. “Dr. Watts isn’t in today, but I’ve spoken to my sister and she’s agreed to discuss this with you.”

“The whole reason we’re here is to see Watts,” Blake pointed out, looking around with a frown. Her fingers twitched for her gun, though she’d left it back at the hotel.

Mercury shrugged, his hand touching her back lightly. “Information never hurts.”

It would have been nice if Yang was there, but she’d claimed to have another route. That was all she would say about it, no matter how much he pushed the question. If she still wouldn’t give him information that night in the hotel he’d have to get desperate measures.

Ruby sent a glance over the three of them, forcing a smile as she turned back to Weiss. “It’ll be nice to see Penny again, though.”

“Actually… we’re going right to Winter’s office. Sorry, no lab visits today.” Weiss led them to an elevator, swiping a card and facing them as it moved up. “Look, I talked to my sister about this. She knows Dr. Watts’ history from before he started working with her, she looked into him before they started, and… There’s nothing negative. He was working in artificial limbs and limb modification before he started on the Penny project.”

“Yeah, uh…” Mercury reached down, pulling his pantleg up and showing the metal of his leg. “That just makes me more certain it’s the same asshole. Watts made me these.”

The elevator grew quiet, all eyes on the doors as they slid open. Weiss led them to Winter’s office, biting her lip before opening the door. The five of them stepped inside, looking to the woman behind the desk.

“I understand you’re here with concerns about my co-creator…” Winter started, standing from her desk and walking around it. “I’m sure I’ll be able to answer all of your questions.”

* * *

Yang swallowed as she moved down the hallway, her eyes darting around. It was so quiet… but she had to be here. Regardless of what they found out with Weiss… the real answers were here.

She stepped into the Platinum Wiseman’s domain, looking around slowly.

Across the way, two figures looked up and Yang waved, crossing the wide room to them. She took a breath, smiling as calmly as she could manage. “Hello, you two. Thanks for meeting with me on short notice.”

“Anything for the future Golden Beacon, Yang. How’s your father?” Ironwood smiled, nodding back to her.

“Oh, he’s good. I… Actually need to talk to Oscar. I think something’s about to happen, so… I wanted some advice.”

Oscar looked up, his eyes wide. “Um… I can try.”

“Well, it’s about someone named Dr. Watts…”


	17. Interlude: Beacons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Stand up.” Tai’s hands stayed on her shoulders as she stood, toes once more digging into bare earth. The breeze coming down the chimney stilled, the sun warming her up steadily. “Open your eyes.”
> 
> Yang blinked against the brightness, staring at the field of sunflowers that seemed to go on for eternity in all directions. She turned around to look to her father, eyes widening as she realized he wasn’t behind her. “Dad?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyy flashback chapter! This is all the lead up to Yang being in Mistral at the beginning of the story.
> 
> (And I totally remembered to include that note when I first posted this lmao whooops)

The mountain had stood for millenia, had been her family’s keep and kingdom for centuries. Yang knew every nook and passage within the walls her father carved, the airflow of each hall, the spots that would be warm in winter and cool in summer.

She knew the reflections of light on the gold that flaked the walls and the deepest pools of shadows in the middle of the night. She knew of the rooms that had been blocked away by thousands of tons of rock and rubble, left to slowly become solid stone once again. Her mother’s room was one of those places.

Three days after Ruby left for Atlas, the air changed. Yang stood in the hallway outside her room, feeling the light breeze tickle her hair against her face. She cocked her head, one hand trailing along the wall, fingers seeing ahead of her eyes. Something different in her father’s room.

“Dad?” Yang called outside his door, answered by the greater rush of air from within. She let herself into the room carefully, her bare feet guiding her to the change, the short hallway behind his bed. “Dad? Hello?”

“Hello, Yang.” She sighed with relief as she stepped into the room, looking around with awe. Glowing gold decorated most of the walls, hung in sheets fine as silk from the ceiling. The floors were soft earth that her toes sunk into and curled in, a single golden pillow resting in the middle of the room. Overhead, strong sunlight came from a tunnel to the clear blue sky, the breeze that had drawn her attention funneled down as well. “Have a seat.”

“What is this place?” Her legs folded under her as she sat down, red eyes still tracking around the marvelous display that certainly hadn’t been there the night before. Even a sealed room could be felt and she would have known of this one ages ago. The wall behind her father’s bed was solid rock.

“It’s a training room.” Taiyang circled behind her, rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. “Close your eyes.”

“Training? It seems a little too… fancy for that.” Their training was usually throwing each other around, punches and kicks and lashes of tail. This much careful decor didn’t last long in their preferred fighting style.

“A different kind of training. Now, eyes.”

Obediently, she closed her eyes, breathing steadily as her father’s large hands squeezed her shoulders, his thumbs digging in to the tense muscles at the base of her skull. “How many threads are in the tapestry that hangs on the far wall?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“How many threads, Yang?”

Her hands curled at her sides, face scrunching into a glare. She tried to call up the tapestry from her look around when she’d first entered the room. It had only been a minute ago, she should know-- “There aren’t any. It’s not a tapestry, it’s a solid plate. Gold with your emblem raised on it in the… slightly off from the center. The top is rounded and the bottom comes to a point, like a shield.”

Behind her, Taiyang laughed. “Not too bad. Open ‘em.”

Yang blinked against the return of light, looking across the small room to the wall. Just as she’d described, the shield shape with her father’s emblem on it. “What is this?”

“There are some things that you should know about me… and about yourself. And… about your mother.”

“My mom?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Wait--” Yang huffed, closing her eyes obediently. “It’s cheating if you ask about something that’s behind me, by the way.”

“What do you see?”

“Uh, the back of my eyelids? Duh?” One hand left her shoulder, smacking the back of her head lightly before returning, her father’s muttered ‘smartass’ making her grin. “I don’t see anything.”

Taiyang sighed, his eyes rolling upward. Just like her mother… “Okay, Miss Mouth, use your other senses. What do you feel? What do you smell?”

Yang frowned, her hands relaxing, fingers trailing through the dirt on either side of her. She inhaled sharply as her fingers bumped something, feeling upwards. “It’s… a stem… like a flower stem. And… and I smell…” She inhaled deeply, the scent of earth around her mixing with something sweeter, something brighter. “I smell flowers…”

“Do you still feel my hands on you?”

“Yeah…?”

“Stand up.” Tai’s hands stayed on her shoulders as she stood, toes once more digging into bare earth. The breeze coming down the chimney stilled, the sun warming her up steadily. “Open your eyes.”

Yang blinked against the brightness, staring at the field of sunflowers that seemed to go on for eternity in all directions. She turned around to look to her father, eyes widening as she realized he wasn’t behind her. “Dad?!”

“It’s okay, I’m here.” The squeeze on her shoulder eased her mind. He was there, even if she couldn’t see him. “Tell me what you see.”

Relaxing slightly, she took the time to look around more closely, take in what surrounded her. “It’s… sunflowers. A whole field of them in all directions… It’s bright and warm… They smell nice, like spring.” She took a deep breath, feeling petals brush pollen onto her cheeks. “They’re almost as tall as I am… What is this place?”

“It’s sort of like a dream, sort of like… Well, people call it different things. I’ve always been taught that it was Aura.”

“Aura…” Her hands reached up, ran along the fine hairs on the sunflower stalks. “It’s inside me, isn’t it?”

“Well, glad you pay attention in class. Yang, I need you to look around, to tell me…” The hand on her shoulder squeezed and she leaned into it. “Is there anything there that might hurt you?”

“Hurt me?” She blinked, confused, gazed around as fear started to grow in her chest. “Is something going to try to hurt me?” The sky darkened with unseen clouds, shadows racing across the endless field. The breeze came back, stronger, bending the sunflowers away from her in all directions.

“No, no that’s not it. It’s okay, calm down… This place reflects your heart. You have as much power over it as it has over you. So if in your heart you’re afraid of being hurt… of it hurting you…” The sun came back, the air stilling as her dad’s words calmed down her heartbeat.

Yang inhaled the sweet flowers again, reaching up and cupping one between her hands gently. “Okay… So it’s safe as long as I want it to be?”

“Something like that…” 

A shadow passed overhead and she snapped her gaze up, followed the path of the bird as it circled her. “Huh, there’s a bird here…”

“A bird?” The question was too sharp, too concerned. Yang winced as the hand on her shoulder tightened. “What kind of bird?”

“Um, it’s high up, but it’s black and…” She gasped as it dove for her, eyes widening, ducking low. One arm raised instinctively and claws ripped into her skin. “Dad!”

Claws swiped in front of her, the comforting weight of her father’s hand on her shoulder lifting for a moment. “Think of home!” Tai’s voice commanded over her fear and Yang pictured it, the glittering gold room they’d been in. The shield with his emblem on the wall. A shield, because he was a protector; that familiar emblem, because--

She dropped against her father’s chest, breathing hard and fighting down a sob. Blood dripped from her right arm, deep red claw marks in her skin. “It’s okay, it’s okay, Yang, you’re home now.”

“I thought you said that place was a dream… And that it couldn’t hurt me.” She sniffed, held out her arm as her father began to bandage it up. Crying like a little kid over a minor injury, she knew it was stupid… But something about that place… it’d left her feeling raw inside, too emotionally exposed.

“I said it was  _ like  _ a dream… that it would only hurt you if you let it.” Tai leaned in, kissed the top of her head lightly. “Your fear is what hurt you. But that place can do other things, too. For someone like you or me, it can be a refuge. You can disappear completely from this world and go to that one. To rest, to recover, to strategize… or to hide, to plot, to sneak. Every living thing has some Aura inside it, finding it just takes extra power and concentration.”

She exhaled unsteadily, slowly sat down on the pillow again. “You followed me there?”

“I kept a connection to you. It’s… difficult, but doable.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Yang cradled her arm against her chest, looking up at her dad as he wiped sweat from his brow. “Why not show me and Ruby both?”

“It’s… Do you know why they call me the Golden Beacon?” Tai knelt across from her, his gaze level on hers. 

She thought on it, tapping one finger against her chin lightly. “Well… You create gold. Bring wealth to everything that can be seen from the mountain… And wealth draws people in. Plus… You’re a dragon. You can protect people from outside threads, like Fae and Grimm, and deter inside threats like bandits and war. So you’re the Golden Beacon because you draw people in and provide them with gold?” 

“Yeah, exactly. So, what happens if I leave?”

“If you leave? I guess the city wouldn’t be wealthy anymore… or protected… or…” Her eyes widened, looking to her father. “Why?”

“One day, I’ll have to leave. To move on from this life to whatever comes next. But the city, all of Vale, will still need protection.” His hand settled on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. “I want you to be that protection. To be the next Golden Beacon.”

The next… Her fists clenched at her sides, teeth working against her lip hard enough to draw blood. “You… But I…” But she was only a half-dragon, she couldn’t do it. But he couldn’t leave. But she didn’t want to spend her whole life trapped up in this mountain, locked away like some dirty secret while everyone else got to choose their own path. Yang exhaled slowly, forced herself to relax and face her father again. Panic and childish tantrums felt wrong in this delicate place. “What if I can’t?”

“I’ll teach you how.”

* * *

Physical training would have been easier. This meditation stuff, unlocking her inner aura, finding inner peace… None of it was really Yang’s style. She could appreciate what it meant, but that didn’t make it any more appealing to sit quietly in a room for hours at a time and think about nothing.

The field of sunflowers was waiting for her. The refuge, the place of peace. The place the bird had attacked her. Every time she started to feel the current world drop away, the airflow from the chimney lessen, the smells of earth be overpowered by flowers, she would hear the call of a bird. Her arm would start to sting and she’d jerk her eyes open, dig her fingers into the earth and assure herself she was still in her father’s meditation room. Not somewhere she could be hurt.

She let the questions sit in her mind for almost a week before approaching her father, cornering him in the kitchen as he made dinner. “Is the bird in there real?”

Taiyang looked over his shoulder, frowning. “There’s a bird in here?”

“No, dad, the bird in  _ there _ . Inside the sunflower field that’s my Aura or whatever.” Yang rolled her eyes, shoving him lightly. “Don’t play dumb.”

“Who’s playing?” He turned from the stove, facing her and meeting her gaze steadily. “The bird… it is and it isn’t real.”

“Wow, you are the  _ most _ helpful,” she huffed, reaching past him to snag a bite from the pan. “It hurt me, I’ve got the scars to show it. But you said that I was in a place where I couldn’t be followed, that you only managed to get your voice and the feeling of your hand there with a lot of effort.” She tapped a finger against the counter, thinking on it. “But you did more than that. Your claws were what chased the bird away before I came back.”

“It’s… complicated. A lot of it I don’t fully understand. But as for the bird…” He stirred dinner, choosing his words carefully. “Think of it as a representation of something that makes you feel… Unsafe. Once you figure out what exactly it is, you can confront it in your heart and work with it.”

Yang looked away, her fingers rubbing over the fresh pink scars on her arm. “It’s my mom, isn’t it?”

His silence answered her better than any words.

* * *

What she actually knew about her mother was limited. Raven Branwen, sister of her uncle Qrow. Beyond that… Eavesdropping and speculation. Qrow seemed to keep tabs on her, if not keeping directly in touch. Yang couldn’t recall ever seeing Raven in person, but she’d seen an old picture that her uncle had, once. She looked like him, but with long hair. Raven lived in Mistral, apparently, was doing… something there. Something her father didn’t approve of. She’d left not long after Yang was born, had let Tai raise her alone until Summer had come along.

The large black bird that plagued her subconscious wasn’t that much of an enigma. Summer was amazing, more loving than she ever could have asked for, but Summer wasn’t  _ her _ mother. Deep down inside, Yang longed to know just what had caused Raven to leave. Was she not good enough? Was she not wanted by the woman who had birthed her?

These thoughts chased each other around her head as she meditated, brought turbulent darkness to her mind. Until she could figure it out she wouldn’t have peace and sanctuary with her Aura… but until she knew more about her mother, she wouldn’t have the answers.

“Dad…” Yang looked up to where Tai sat across from her, as deeply engrossed in his own meditations. “Will you… will you tell me about my mom?”

Nothing about Tai’s demeanor changed except a slow exhale and she closed her eyes again, convinced that his silence was a no, that he really was going to leave her to sink or swim along in this. Until… “I guess I have to. What do you want to know?”

_ Everything _ , she thought, keeping her eyes closed, keeping her mind focused on only his voice in front of her. “Why… did she leave?”

“Raven left because… Because I couldn’t give her the life she needed to live here. She’s always been the type to want to soar high in every sky, and this place… as much as I tried to make it her home, it felt like a gilded cage.” She heard him move and cracked an eye open, followed his gaze up the rock chimney to the blue sky overhead. “I couldn’t keep her here, it’d be as cruel as keeping any bird that wants to be free caged up.”

Yang licked her lips, swallowing down her next words. She knew the feeling… Ever since her dad had mentioned her taking over his sole, her staying there forever… Her home had begun to feel smaller and smaller, the mountain feeling like a cell, like an everlasting cave-in. “Where did she go?”

“Wherever she wanted. Mistral, I think. Somewhere that she could… Could rule the skies.” Tai stood, shaking his head quickly. “Your uncle it coming to visit tomorrow. He can… He can tell you more about it. But Yang?” His hand reached for her and she took it, let herself be pulled up and into a tight hug. “Some answers aren’t worth having,” he whispered into the top of her head, squeezing her close before leaving the room.

Yang narrowed her eyes at his back, her fists clenching for a moment. Some answers weren’t worth having? If she was going to confront her mother, even an imagined form of her, she had to have all the answers.

And if her dad and uncle wouldn’t give them to her… Yang would go get them herself.

* * *

Qrow took a long drink from his flask, his eyes on Yang across the table. He rolled his gaze to Tai, saw the dragon’s shrug. Finally, Qrow put his drink down, sitting back in his chair. “She’s in Mistral.”

“Why?”

“It’s where the two of us grew up… She went back to our tribe. Your mother and I weren’t always… upstanding citizens. The name Branwen goes back pretty far, mostly tied to criminal activity. Thieves, assassins… bandits. We were in line to take leadership of the tribe… Well, she was. But of course… old names carry old suspicions. Twins were thought to be bad luck, so we were cast aside.” His eyes narrowed on the table, the pain of old memories only easing when Tai rested a hand on his shoulder. “Somehow we made it to Haven, and from there we were sent to Ozpin. He was young back then, had just taken on his role… offered to take us in, teach us, if we would… consider doing something for him.”

“What did he want from you?” Yang leaned forward, watching her uncle’s face closely. This was more information than she’d ever dragged out of her dad or overheard.

“Nothing we weren’t willing to give. We were supposed to be his eyes and ears in Mistral, help him keep the peace and order beyond his reach in Vale… It didn’t seem too bad. Until....” Qrow reached up, closed his hand over Tai’s and shrugged. “Things that you see in front of you aren’t always the whole truth. Raven… disagreed with it once she understood it fully. Ozpin’s gift quickly became a burden to her. It caused her to resent everyone around her, especially me. I took to the whole spying thing like I’d been born for it. When she had the opportunity to leave, she took it without looking back.”

She sat back, exhaling slowly and looking up at the ceiling. Her fingers ran over the pink scars on her arm, tracing the claw marks slowly. There were similar scars on her uncle’s wrist, something she’d only recently noticed. Old and faded, probably little more than memories to him now. “I want to see her.”

“Yang--” Tai started, cutting himself off at the look on her face.

“Before I accept any position like this, I want to know… to know what it was she disagreed with.”

“You can try, Firecracker, but I can’t promise she’ll want to talk to you.” Qrow shrugged, pushing himself up from the table and stretching his arms over his head. “I’ll take you with me when I go to Mistral next.”

It’d been too easy, and she’d almost believed it. She’d come so close to falling into complacency, accepting the truth as it was given to her. The exact things her mother would never have done, from what they said.

Yang walked through the hall that night on light feet, intent only to get a late night drink before sleeping. She paused outside her father’s room, head cocked, listening to the low murmur of voices within.

“You can’t really take her to Mistral… to see Raven…” Her father, the firm tone of authority she knew from early childhood.

“No…” Qrow’s voice, muffled slightly. She strained to hear him better. “If she insists we just won’t find her… I’ll figure out what to tell her…”

The glass in her hand almost shattered as Yang’s fists clenched, eyes blazing. She hurried back down the hall to her room, breathing fast and shallow as she packed. If they were going to  _ lie _ to her, if they were never planning to let her decide, then she’d beat them to the punch.

She left for Mistral under the full moon with only a handful of clothes, snuck away under the sound of her father’s snores and the watchful eye of a single black bird that circled overhead.


	18. Nature of a Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We have to kill her.”
> 
> “No!”
> 
> “Ozpin needs to know where the power is.”

Winter slammed her hands onto the desk, her eyes narrowed. Across from her, Mercury’s arms were crossed, his own glare just as fierce. Ruby looked between them, biting her lip. Neither was going to back down, the the evidence against Watts was stacking up quickly… The things Mercury said he’d done, the things that he could be planning to do.

Fighting amongst themselves wouldn’t put a stop to that.

She stepped forward, put herself between them and pressed a hand against Mercury’s chest. “Listen… People can change. You proved that. So just because Watts has done something wrong in the past, doesn’t mean he’s still doing bad things. We should… We should give him a chance to explain himself.” She looked to Winter, watching the mask of professional calm slide over the older woman’s face. “And if there’s really something wrong going on, we shouldn’t act without going through the proper channels, right? That means talking to the council about it.”

Mercury brushed her hand off, his shoulders dropping. “Okay… But while we wait… I wanna see this thing he’s built.”

“Penny?”

“Yeah. I’m…” He shrugged, looking back to the door. “Kinda curious how what he had me doing relates.”

“Too many new faces can be... overwhelming for her. I’ll take you back there, but everyone else should wait here,” Winter sighed, starting around the desk. Her steps froze as the door opened, all eyes turning to the man that stood there, the girl next to him.

“I was informed there was some distress,” Watts spoke into the silence of the room, glancing at Penny. “Perhaps our creation can take care of it for us.”

“Penny…?” Ruby’s voice was quiet, her teeth sinking into her lip when not even a flicker of acknowledgement crossed the other girl’s face.

This was bad. This was the worst kind of bad.

* * *

“I’m not… sure I can help.” Oscar looked up at her, concern knitting his eyebrows together. “I only started this a few months ago, Ozpin never told me much more than the basics.”

Yang crossed her arms, head tilting back slightly. There wasn’t time to go all the way back to Vale and talk to Ozpin. She just had to hope that Oscar could actually answer her questions. The idea had stirred in her head, the nagging thought. Too many things that too many different people had said. “What do you know about the transfer?”

“The transfer… Well…” He closed his eyes for a moment, face blanking with the effort to recall. “Atlas, Vale, and Vacuo all choose their own transfers, usually descendants. Mistral… sort of does. Ozpin has some oversight, to keep it balanced between them.”

“So if the Amber Dragon chose a successor…” Yang shook her head. “How does the power transfer?”

“Training. The more a successor learns, the more of the power goes to them.” He shrugged, one hand rubbing his arm. “Ironwood might know more about it, he’s working on his successor right now.”

She glanced over to him, shaking her head. “I don’t know if he’d have the answer I want… I just… do you know if the Amber Dragon had a successor?”

Oscar thought on it, before shrugging. “She could have. If she did… Ozpin didn’t know about it. He would have intervened if he’d known, I think.”

Yang nodded, patting his shoulder lightly. “Thanks. I think… I think I know what’s going on.” The aura, the soul, the power… Penny. Built to study the nature of the soul, but where would he get a soul? Built after Mercury left, after he helped kill the Amber Dragon…

It wasn’t a pleasant thought, and what she’d have to do afterwards… that was worse. But to keep things balanced, to keep Mistral in one place, she’d do it. It was her job. “I’d better get back to the others, I think they’re all at the lab.” She waved, letting himself out and moving quickly down the street. The lab wasn’t too far from Ironwood’s mountain, one set of too-quiet halls traded for another.

Her footsteps echoed down the hall and Yang paused, held her breath. Stillness around her, different from the controlled environment of Ironwood’s lab. She pressed a hand to the wall, eyes closing. It wasn’t just quiet, unnaturally soundproofed, it was  _ empty _ . The walls or floors didn’t vibrate with footsteps, the air didn’t move with distant doors opening or closing. Had the others already left? If so, why was the place just open for her to walk in? They had to be here.

She moved slower, footsteps silent as a ghost, her own movement barely stirring the air around her. She kept a palm against the wall, waiting for any signs of where her friends had gone.

The indent of a door paused her steps, ear pressing to the flat metal, listening to the other side. Stirring air, whirring machines. A lab. No one in it, not even the whisper of footsteps. This was unsettling.

A more distant sound caught her attention, a single snap like a branch. Yang hurried her pace down the hall, finding a door at the end with a panel beside it, demanding a card or code to access the room on the other side. She pressed her ear to the door, barely able to hear the muffled words on the other side.

“...Watts…” 

That was all she needed. Yang drew back, her fist clenched, gaze darting between the panel and the door itself. She could rip rocks out of the earth with just her fingers, surely she could punch through this steel.

The door shuddered in its frame as she hit it, her arm seeming to vibrate in time, muscle and tendon shaking, bones shifting with the effort. Yang grunted with pain, pulling her arm up and rubbing her knuckles. So she’d  _ slightly  _ overestimated the strength of steel compared to stone, a few more hits would surely be enough to… To break her hand, if she was being realistic. 

Beside the door, the light over the panel flickered, turning from red to green. She pulled herself back, moving to the side of the door as it slid open. The man that leaned out was tall, lanky, mustached… She shoved him inside as he turned to her, glancing around the room. Ruby, Mercury, Blake, Emerald, Weiss, a woman that looked like Weiss, probably Winter. Unfamiliar girl with red hair. She shoved the man against the wall as the door slid shut, her teeth clenched.

“Yang?” Mercury’s and Ruby’s voices lingered and she tightened her grip.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Despite the grip on him, the man seemed unflustered by her presence. He glanced to the side, eyes on the redhead girl. “Penny. Kill the boy.”

“Penny, no!” Yang clenched her teeth, her claws ripping through the fabric of Watts’ shirt as Ruby yelled, as the redhead started to Mercury.

Behind the desk, Winter was at the computer, her teeth grinding in frustration. “He’s shut me out of the system, I can’t shut her down.”

“You took her power. Her soul, you had them kill her and steal it… For what? Some experiment? What were you planning to do with the Amber Dragon’s power?” Yang focused on Watts, on keeping him pinned to the wall. Mercury could handle himself, she’d have to believe that.

“Yes, I suppose you’d like to know… Those eyes, those claws… You’re the Golden Beacon’s little half-breed, aren’t you?” The smug uptilt of his head… She really wanted to punch the smirk off his face.

“Think you’re smart for knowing that?”

“I think I’m smart for what I’ve already done.”

Across the room, a grunt of pain. Yang slammed Watts back against the wall, darting her gaze over. Ruby had Penny pinned to the ground, the redhaired girl struggling to get up. Emerald and Blake were close, also holding down the girl. Mercury and Weiss had moved around the desk, joined Winter with the computer. What did he think he’d already done?

“What were you planning with her?” She turned her gaze back to Watts, watching his face closely. 

“Exactly what I was asked to.”

No answers. He wasn’t going to give answers and she was wasting time. Yang growled in frustration, slamming him back against the wall again, his skull cracking against the metal. The way his face blanked, his eyes rolled upward, that was satisfying at least.

Yang led Watts drop to the ground, turning to the others and joining her sister in pinning Penny down.

“What’s going on? Why is Penny doing this?” Ruby asked, turning to her with desperation, eyes wide. 

“He stole the Amber Dragon’s power, had those three kill her to get it. Put it into Penny.” Her voice lowered, mouth moving close to Ruby’s ear. “Look. I know you can see it.”

“You know…” Ruby swallowed, sitting up a little and closing her eyes for a moment. She looked back to Penny, the silver of her eyes bright, almost glowing. She gasped in a breath, head dropping and chest heaving. “Okay… Yeah, you’re right. Amber Dragon. Yang…”

“We have to kill her.”

“No!”

“Ozpin needs to know where the power is.”

“So we tell him. Penny’s never hurt anyone!” Ruby grabbed her arm, her eyes wide, desperate.

“Ruby, she’s trying to kill Mercury right now. We have to.”

Under them, the struggling figure finally went still, eyes blanking. Ruby inhaled sharply, looking around the room. 

“I shut her down.” Winter stepped around the desk, nodding to them to stand. “I don’t know what she’ll do when we bring her back online, if we bring her back online, but for now, it’s safe.” She looked around the room, arms crossing. “For now, we can put her back in the lab… and lock  _ him _ in there, too. Then we’re going to talk.”

Yang lifted Penny, grunting with the effort of the slight girl’s surprising weight. Then again, she  _ was  _ made of metal. She let Winter lead the way to the lab, laying Penny down on the table as she was instructed. Mercury and Blake dumped Watts with less care, all of them stepping into the hallway and watching as Winter locked the door. 

The group was silent as Winter led them down the hall, into a larger room. She tapped on a computer, pulling up an image of the lab they’d just left and projecting it to the wall. Everyone took seats around the table, their eyes on the video feed. Nothing stirred in the room, but that wouldn’t last.

“Now…” Her gaze settled on Yang, eyes narrowed. “What was that?”

She inhaled slowly, feeling fingers slide down her arm, looking over to see Mercury’s gaze on her. Yang took his hand, squeezing quickly before reaching to her other side, finding Blake’s and doing the same. Her attention turned back to Winter, voice confident as she began to explain. “Do you know about the protectors of Mistral?”

* * *

The pounding headache that pulled him from unconsciousness was only a hindrance for a minute. Once the reasoning behind it resurfaced in his mind, he could ignore it. 

Watts sat up slowly, assessing the room he was in. The lab… the android on a table, him on the floor. Undignified beasts, the lot of them… He rubbed the back of his head, standing and moving to the door. Not even worth trying to unlock, the rest of them may have been idiots but Winter would at least cover that base.

They knew. The cripple and the fae had turned and spilled too much information. He could reprogram the android but that would only do so much, a bunch of obnoxious teenagers had physically overpowered his greatest creation and Winter was smarter than he gave her credit for. She’d been a source, a way to get all the information he needed and she’d provided, done more than that… Focus on it later. He moved around the lab, spotted the security camera and its blinking red light. Of course they’d be watching him. There wasn’t much he could do about that.

They hadn’t taken away his computer access, at least, and it took little work to track them in the empty building, flipping from camera to camera. He found them in the conference room, turned on the audio and turned it up before crossing to the android as their voices played out.

“What’s he doing?” One of the girls, probably the little Schnee brat.

“Doesn’t matter, he can’t leave the lab.” Winter, that contempt for failure in her voice making his teeth grind. He’d heard that tone with plenty of interns, he didn’t deserve it.

“But Penny’s in there…” If they weren’t going to say anything important, he may as well shut them off.

“She’ll be fine. Yang… These things are… Secretive. I’m not sure we should--”

“Ruby’s my sister, Weiss is your sister. Emerald and Mercury had direct ties to whoever is running the show, and Blake is my girlfriend. Whatever we have to say, they’re all involved.”

“Ironwood has asked me to be his successor.”

The silence over the speakers matched his stillness, Watts’ eyes turning to the computer. Ironwood had asked… The Platinum had chosen a successor? She’d said… He shook it off, waiting, listening. Working.

“How far are you?”

“Not very. Why?”

“The more a successor learns… The stronger they get… The less power the current one has. Until they can step down and the next one can step up. Make things as smooth as possible so that the rest of the world is none the wiser. But…”

He waited, his eyes narrowed. The silence spun out, longer, too long… Watts left the table, crossing to the computer and frowning at the screen. An empty room. When had they…? He flipped through the camera feeds, his frown growing. Empty, empty, empty. Where had they gone? How had they snuck away without him noticing?

The door beeping was his only warning, no time to move before they were in the lab. He was on the far side from the door, Penny between them, but there wasn’t time. He hadn’t been able to plan this far ahead, prepare anything against them. 

His hands raised slowly, eyes on the group that came through the doors. “Well, well... It seems you’re more clever than I thought. Well… some of you.”

“Oh, can it.” Mercury stepped forward, passing through the lab and closing in on him. “You’re not as quick as you think you are.”

“Who are you again?” He couldn’t fight his way out, but he could certainly get them to do something foolish, incite temper and leave them lacking information. He saw the flash of hatred in those dark eyes, the flash of murder. The perfect button to press.

“Mercury.” The blonde that had knocked him out, her voice low. “He isn’t worth it.”

“Oh, I know. But I can’t let you have all the fun, blondie.” His attention had been diverted at her words, came back just as a fist connected with the side of his head. Hands grabbed his arms, held him in place as he stumbled. “Go ahead and think your way out of this one, Watts. I’m sure the Platinum Wiseman will be impressed.”

Two blows to the head within an hour had him reeling, his eyes unfocused. There wasn’t much chance to get out before they’d bound his hands, not much he could do but comply as they led him out of the lab.

She was going to be displeased with this turn of events. Death really  _ would _ be the better option.

* * *

They were quite the procession on the way to Ironwood’s. Winter led them, Weiss one step behind her. Yang carried Penny’s body on her back, Ruby close at hand to make sure the android girl didn’t come online and start trying to kill them again. A few paces behind, Mercury and Blake led Watts along, both of their faces twisted to sour expressions. Emerald brought up the rear, her eyes narrowed at the back of Watts’ head.

He’d tried to talk at first, tried to worm his way under Mercury’s skin with questions about his past, what he’d done between leaving Atlas with Cinder and coming back with this group. Questions of if the people he was with knew what he’d done in Atlas, knew why he had such fancy equipment for a homeless orphan. With an effort, Mercury hadn’t taken the bait, had kept any answers that came out of him monosyllabic. He didn’t owe Watts anything and he didn’t have anything to hide.

Ruby glanced over her shoulder, pitching her voice into almost a whisper. Blake might be able to hear her, but no one else would. “When did Dad tell you about…?”

“After you went to school. He… asked me to be his successor, started to teach me about those things. I asked why you couldn’t do it and he told me what your role was… What you inherited from Summer.” She looked over her shoulder to Penny’s blank face, frowning. “I always knew you were different, that your eyes weren’t red, I just… Didn’t know what it was.”

The noise of the streets faded as they entered Ironwood’s domain, the familiar silence and echoing footsteps. Winter gestured for them to wait at the elevator, stepping in along and disappearing behind smooth metal doors. There wasn’t anything more to say, silence enveloping the group. When the doors opened again they stepped through, taking the smooth ride down pressed uncomfortably close together.

Ironwood stood in front of them, Oscar nearby behind him, Winter at his side. He looked over the group, one eyebrow raising curiously. “The successor to the Golden Beacon, a soul-searcher, an heiress, a Faunus, a half-fae, a man made of half metal, an android, and a disgrace who dares call himself a doctor. You’ve certainly made my week interesting…” He nodded Yang forward, pointing to a table nearby. “You can place her there for now. We’ll see what we can do. As for him…” A clap of his hands brought forth guards, their steel grips taking Watts’ arms. “A holding cell until he can face trial before the council. I’m sure they’ll be  _ very _ interested to know how he pulled this off after the last time we took his credentials.

“As for the rest of you, I have a room we can meet in to discuss this with… some more subtlety.”

“Because we excel at that…” Mercury muttered, shaking his head. “Is there anyone here that  _ doesn’t _ know about the nonsense going on?”

“Yes, you’re quite...  subtle…” Ironwood squeezed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, his eyes closing. “What’s this about the Amber Dragon?”

“Well…” Everyone’s attention turned to Ruby, her eyes on Penny. “Um, that’s her.”


	19. Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All she could do was use a power she didn’t understand, a gift from a mother she couldn’t even remember. All she could do was see what had been, every mistake of the past that she wasn’t going to allow to repeat.

In Mistral, justice had been served with blades, between the party that assumed themself wronged and the accused wrongdoer. If there was actual crime, it was determined when one lay bleeding or dead. A truly innocent person would fight to keep their name clear. A truly wronged person would overwhelm any opposition.

In Vale he didn't know, but he'd seen what Ozpin had left of Cinder and he still had the scars from encroaching on Taiyang's territory. He could guess what they considered justice.

In Atlas there was the council. He waited with the others as Ironwood brought Watts before the decision makers of the city, paced and rubbed the scars on his wrist and thought about justice. Would they pull him into that room next, for crimes of an old life, of a desperate boy?

Mercury paced and rubbed his wrist, his eyes on the doors every time the he imagined hearing something. The soundproofing, the unnatural use of quiet, permeated Atlas in so many small ways. Their hotel rooms, their labs, their halls of business and politics and crime and justice.

He hoped he’d be able to hear it anyways, when they killed Watts for what he’d done. Give him a small reward for all the time he’d wasted being led astray on empty promises. Then again, maybe they’d decide that he deserved to die, too.

Finally his pacing is stilled, his eyes turned away from the door and to Yang as her hand touched his arm. She stood beside him, pulled him in slowly and moved her arms up, cupped his cheeks to draw him even closer until their lips touched. “He’ll get his,” she whispered like she could hear through the steel and silence, or maybe through her own head. Like she already knew the answer. “Ironwood won’t stand for it any other way.” And he was starting to realize that maybe she did, that maybe she knew far more than he’d given her credit for.

She was a beast with a target on her back and then she was a half-breed that he could use and now she was his everything that he had to protect and had she ever fit into  _ any _ of his little boxes? Had she ever not taken him completely by surprise?

In the bottom of his lungs he tasted smoke and fire and dirt, remembered the lash of her tail against his legs and the single moment he’d caught her off-guard when her guard was up. He saw moonlight and the pain of betrayal in her eyes before he’d run from her. He felt her weight over him as he was the one off-guard, as he was taken down by her tenacity and raw strength. Each time, he heard his name on her lips and tasted hers on his tongue.

She’s the one that had always surprised him, had always slipped neatly out of his expectations. So when she said that it would be okay in not so many words, he believed her. He sat down on her left and draped his arm over her shoulders, played with Blake’s hair until the three of them almost managed to relax.

The door opened with barely a hiss of air and all silence broke in a moment. Ironwood’s footsteps, self-assured, loud on the floors. The shuffling of their many feet, their steps to join him. Watts was gone, not even a glimpse of him as the door closed. Maybe he was already dead. Mercury could only hope.

“It’s been taken care of,” Ironwood started, looking them over slowly, one at a time. “Practicing any sort of science without qualifications is already a high crime, but feigning those qualifications is about the worst.”

“So what, he’s gonna die?” Of all people, he hadn’t expected Ruby to voice his hopes like that.

“Die? No, no. He’ll be put into a database of suspended scientists, permanently barred from any labs for the rest of his life. And for circumventing it after they already took his qualifications away, he’s going to prison.” 

“Forever?”

“For a year.”

Mercury’s fists clenched at his sides, his words again pulled from his throat and given to someone else’s voice. “What about everything else he’s done?” Blake demanded, shrugging out of Yang’s hold on her and stepping forward. “What about the Faunus and the Amber Dragon and--”

“It’s better to keep matters of dragons and all it entails quiet. And…” He looked away, shoulders dropping. “I understand your concerns, really, and I share them. Atlas has never been the most… accepting place, despite the efforts to change it. But I’m not going to be able to walk into that room and convince the people there that experimentation on Faunus is a crime. I’ve tried before… and their response would be to ask if I considered experimentation on lab rats a crime as well.”

“It’s not right.”

“I know. Which is why we’ll keep pushing to make the people here see the right things. That one is a relay marathon, not a single runner sprint.” He looked around the room, nodding to Winter. “For now, though, the… slightly more pressing concern at hand is Penny. Ms. Schnee and I will do what we can to find answers. For now, the rest of you should go get some rest.”

The sun was low in the sky, their feet dragging from exhaustion as they walked back to the hotel. Ironwood’s words were an order, not a suggestion. Back to the hotel for rest, sure. And back to the hotel to keep them locked out of the way in a convenient place. He exchanged a look with Yang and Blake as Ruby, Weiss, and Emerald departed for their room, eyebrows up.

“So… I’m not that tired.”

“Me either,” Blake agreed immediately, her eyebrows knitting together. It was a relay marathon, not a single runner sprint, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. 

“What do we do?” Yang’s hands took both of theirs, squeezed briefly. “I know what we  _ want _ to do, I want to do it, too, but if we’re gonna… We need a plan.” She looked to Mercury, raising an eyebrow. “You know the most about Atlas, what can you tell us?”

For once, the quiet of the city was helpful. Their low voices wouldn’t carry past the hotel room, plans of the worst sort of justice.

* * *

She tossed and turned, aware of the steady breathing in the room, the sleep of her companions. They’d wrapped things up in a neat little bow, taken care of Watts in the only way they could, removed a growing threat, and…

And left too many open ends. What she’d seen when she’d looked into Penny’s eyes kept replaying in the dark behind her own eyelids. The faces of people she considered her friends, turned to monsters through the eyes of another. The fear of them in Amber’s last moments. The flash of light, of life starting anew. Not as infant but as a girl on a table full of fear and confusion and… Ruby pushed herself up to sit, pressing her palms into her eyelids. “No…”

“Ruby?” Weiss’ low voice, a hand on her back. “You okay?”

“I…” She slipped out of bed, crossed the room to the window and looked out at the city. Moonless night, only darkness below. “What happens to Penny?”

“Don’t know.” Fabric shuffled as Weiss joined her, touched her shoulders and leaned in close. “I’d like to say everything will work out, but… I just don’t know.”

It wasn’t the comfort she wanted, needed, but the hands on her were reassuring, in a way. The hands that rubbed her shoulders and tried to ease her back towards the bed. Ruby turned, looked past Weiss and to Emerald’s sleeping face. Her mind filled in the gap, overlaid the image of the girl sleeping curled up on her side with a smirk, a knife, an intent to kill. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right that someone like Emerald had been turned into that, someone she considered a friend used to be manipulated into such crimes.

“I’m not a dragon. I’m not a protector,” she whispered, turning her gaze to Weiss, biting her lip. “How can I keep them all safe? All I can do is…” All she could do was use a power she didn’t understand, a gift from a mother she couldn’t even remember. All she could do was see what had been, every mistake of the past that she wasn’t going to allow to repeat.

“All you can do is what you’re doing now.” Weiss’ lips pressed to her forehead, hands tugging her back to bed. When arms wrapped around her, compelled her to stillness, the images behind her eyelids finally faded to black. “All you can do is your best.”

* * *

“I see… No, I’ll tell them. Thanks, Winter.” Ruby was at her shoulder the second Weiss hung up the phone, eyes wide.

“What’d she say? How’s Penny?”

The white-haired girl rubbed her temples for a moment, before shaking her head. “They managed to fix the changes Watts made that had her trying to kill us. But as for the Amber Dragon’s soul, there’s no way to extract it. They’re not even sure how Watts got it to her in the first place. So…” She bit her lip, looking among the group. “Ironwood wants to leave it in Ozpin’s hands and Winter says that he suspects Ozpin will want her destroyed so that nature can seek its balance.”

Ruby’s hands shook, her small wings fluttering at her back. “No… No, they can’t… She never did anything wrong! She’s as much of a victim as anyone else, was just as scared as Amber and… and…” Her gaze darted to Mercury and Emerald, a frown tugging down the corners of her mouth. “You two helped, how did you do it?”

Emerald crossed her arms, looking away. “Dunno.” Mercury’s pose mirrored hers, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“You were  _ there _ though!”

“It was kind of a hard fight. By the time it was… over, we were more focused on keeping ourselves alive than what Cinder was doing.”

“Keeping yourselves alive…? You mean holding Amber down while Cinder killed her. I saw it happen, I know what you did.” Ruby took a slow breath, tried to swallow her outrage. Getting angry wasn’t going to help anyone in this situation. “If you really don’t remember… Fine. But that leaves us stuck and Penny’s going to pay the price. There has to be something…”

Mercury and Emerald exchanged a look, silent conversation of raised eyebrows and headshakes. Finally, Mercury’s arms dropped, his eyes on Ruby. “There’s some _ one _ . The... thing that Cinder got her arm from. The Queen of the Grimm. However all this was done, she put it together.”

“So we go after her.”

A snort from the green-haired girl, a quick shake of her head. “She’s in the Eastern Mountains of Mistral. There’s no way to  _ get _ to her. By land or sea, it’s death waiting to happen.”

Weiss cleared her throat, looking the group over with a shrug. “Atlas has airships.”

“You’re still asking us to charge in to our deaths on the  _ chance _ that… What, she’s just gonna  _ tell _ us what happened?” Emerald made a face. “No way, I’m out.”

“Emerald…” The anger had dissipated from Ruby, her eyes pleading, hands taking the other girl’s gently. “I just want to put things right. Penny has the power, Penny can learn about it and become the new Amber Dragon. Waiting for it to cycle back up… What if that’s her plan? Destabilize and take over while we scramble to put it back. I don’t want to see Grimm overrun the world, swallow it in darkness… You don’t want it either, right?”

Emerald watched her face for a long moment before snorting, pulling her hand free and flicking it against Ruby’s forehead. “Okay, okay. Put away the sad eyes. I don’t  _ like _ the idea of just marching in there, though. We have no clue what we’re up again… We need to find someone who might know.”

“I… have someone in mind.” Yang’s voice broke into the group, her red eyes tracking over each of them. “We should split up. Ruby, Emerald, Weiss stay here and convince Ozpin not to kill Penny. Mercury, Blake and I will go to Mistral… We’ll find the Phoenix.

“We’ll find my mom.”


	20. Last Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He should still pay for what he did to them.”
> 
> “Should you?”
> 
> “Yeah.” Yang started, taken aback by his admission. His eyes dropped under her gaze, shoulders raising and falling in a short shrug. “It’s what I’m trying to do. To make things right. I can’t change what I did, but I can choose what to do going forward and hope it balances out.”

It’d take time for Weiss to organize things for them. Ironwood and Winter had agreed to delay asking Ozpin about Penny, to keep the android in a sleep-like state, watched over by Ruby. Emerald was on her way back to Vale, seeking Taiyang for advice. 

“Two days,” Weiss declared, hanging up her phone and turning to Yang. “Two days until we can have a ship ready to take you to Mistral. Haven, specifically.”

“She’s not in Haven.”

“Do you know where she is, then?”

“Well, no…” Yang frowned, looking away. “But Mistral’s a big place, we need to be able to…”

“You need a base of operations to start at. And resources. And… information.” She looked over her shoulder, her eyebrows pulling together. “I almost went to Haven, when it came time for school. Less sophisticated than Atlas, but it would get me out from under my father’s thumb. But…” She bit her lip, held her breath for a second. “But Lionheart, the headmaster there, just sorta… gave me the creeps. I think there’s something more there. I think it’s a good place to start.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because Lionheart doesn’t know who the protectors are.”

Yang considered it, nodding slowly. “They don’t trust him… Makes sense. How do you know all this?”

“I’m the middle child in a prominent family. I’m really,  _ really _ good at overhearing conversations I shouldn’t.” Weiss looked her over slowly, watching Yang’s face. “Really good.”

“So you know--”

“I don’t  _ know _ anything, but I do hear things. So you have two days to decide what justice really means.” 

Red eyes widened, looking away quickly. “How did you--”

“Middle child.” She gave the blonde a nudge, her face serious. “I don’t  _ like _ it, but… I like him even less. Do what you have to. Two days is the only chance you’ll get.”

Yang walked away quickly, found Blake and Mercury in their room. She dropped onto the bed, looking them both over. “We have two days.”

Mercury tucked a knife into the side of his boot, looking over to her. “We’re only going to need one.”

“Are you sure this is what you two want to do?”

“Yeah… If I’m really turning over a new leaf, I wanna cut away all the dead branches.”

Blake snorted, shaking her head. “I don’t think that metaphor works. Killing one person isn’t going to change Atlas, but… it’ll make me feel better.” Her ears twitched on top of her head, eyes narrowed. “A year in prison just doesn’t sound like justice to me.”

Plans in motion, they readied themselves for the night ahead.

* * *

Justice. Yang followed behind them, her steps soft, eyes on the path ahead. Deciding what justice meant to her… She knew what it meant to them and she knew she loved them. Could she say it meant the same to her? Killing someone wouldn’t make what he’d done disappear. It wouldn’t change who Mercury was.

She reached up as they stopped, hands on both of their shoulders. “Wait…”

Two sets of eyes looked back to her, narrowed focus slowly shifting to concern. “Yang?” Blake’s voice was low, her hand lifting, settling over Yang’s. 

“This doesn’t feel right… I… I know a year in jail isn’t justice. I know you want to erase past mistakes. But…” She looked between them, her back straightening. “But we don’t have to be killers to be right.”

For a minute she thought they’d go on without her, do their dark task and return to her with blood on their hands. Watts wasn’t innocent by any stretch, but how could they call more violence the right answer? She saw the look they exchanged, the conversation of raised eyebrows. Finally, Mercury and Blake turned to her, both taking her hands.

“Okay…” Mercury exhaled slowly, looking over his shoulder. “But he should still pay for what he did to them.”

“Should you?”

“Yeah.” Yang started, taken aback by his admission. His eyes dropped under her gaze, shoulders raising and falling in a short shrug. “It’s what I’m trying to do. To make things right. I can’t change what I did, but I can choose what to do going forward and hope it balances out.”

“Besides,” Blake added, her free hand settling on Mercury’s shoulders, “ _ we _ don’t have to be the ones to decide. We just have to get him somewhere that looks at the whole picture. And I know just the place.”

Their steps continued, Yang now between them. Her heart felt lighter, knowing they weren’t about to go commit a murder. True justice would come without leaving blood on their hands.

* * *

Blake knew that calling in this favor would pay off how she wanted it to, but she still kept her guard up as they approached the meeting point. One hand lifted, signalling Yang and Mercury to stay back before pulling her hat off, letting her ears show. In Atlas, faunus couldn’t be too careful, even of each other. Once she knew who they were dealing with, she could decide the next step to take.

“A human and I… what is  _ she _ ?” The voice in the shadows whispered, warm breath on the side of Blake’s neck. Despite the start those words gave her, she smiled. 

“Ilia.” Best possible scenario. “She’s my girlfriend.” Worst possible words.

“Uh-huh…” The warmth next to her faded immediately, Ilia’s skin seeming to shimmer for a moment before she stepped into view. She plucked the hat from Blake’s hands, putting it over her head again. “Come on. Sienna Khan wants this done quickly.”

“Sienna Khan? I thought--”

“Your dad’s retired from all of this and wants to do things  _ politically _ . So when he got in touch with me about this, I decided to share the information with someone who was actually interested in justice.” Ilia led her from the alleyway, her eyes narrowing on Yang and Mercury. “Okay, your girlfriend is pretty hot.”

Yang raised an eyebrow to Blake, only getting a shrug. “Thanks? I’m Yang--” It was useless, Ilia already past her, moving down the streets. Blake fell into step beside her again, fingers trailing over Yang’s arm. “She’s… focused.”

This wasn’t the plan. All they were doing was getting Watts murdered by someone else. Their hands would still be stained with blood… but only she had to know that. Blake squared her shoulders, nodding. “We don’t have a lot of time and an opportunity like this, to get him to Menagerie for a trial by faunus, won’t present itself again. We can trust her. I know her.” And she was working with Sienna Khan, another upside. They’d both been led astray and found their way back. Done things better left unsaid.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the look Mercury gave her. A little too focused, a little too knowing. He’d keep his mouth shut for Yang’s sake. She had to believe that.

The building Watts was being held in wasn’t much for security. A single camera out front, a single guard just inside. Blake caught Ilia’s arm before she could go in, her voice low. “Don’t hurt anyone. We’re trying to keep this discreet.”

“They’re only humans. It doesn’t matter.”

“ _ Ilia _ .” Her words were more urgent, hand squeezing the other girl’s arm. “Don’t hurt them.”

Ilia relented wordlessly, her skin shimmering, fading her into the background. It wasn’t total invisibility, not in broad daylight against a multi-colored background, but it was close. She approached the building carefully, slipped under the camera and to the doors. From farther down the street, Blake raised her weapon, took careful aim, and shot the camera down.

The guard didn’t know what hit him, obviously. One step outside to check on the camera and Ilia had him unconscious on the ground, held the door as the other three hurried inside. They dragged the guard’s body back to the booth, laid him out on the floor and began looking.

“Here!” Yang held up a file, Watts’s name on it in red. “He’s in cell A2.”

“That’d help if we had a… map.” Mercury pushed papers off the desk in a flutter, his eyes scanning the map laid out on the surface. “A2… A2… looks like there’s one more guard post between here and there. And…” His gaze darted to the monitors, cameras of possibly every hallway. “There’s no way we do this unseen.”

“Correction, there’s no way  _ you _ do this unseen, human.” Inky blackness overtook Ilia’s skin, only her eyes shining out from it before slowly blinking into nothing. “Figure out how to cut the power, put this place in a blackout. Then I’ll go in and get him out. I have contacts that will take it from there.”

“How do you expect to get through during a blackout? They’ll put the place on lockdown.” Yang huffed, crossing her arms.

“Hey, nothing stops shadows. Go do it.” Ilia disappeared out the door, missing the look Yang and Mercury shared, the rolled eyes.

“She’s… a little dramatic, but she’ll get the job done,” Blake offered, stepping up and looking at the cameras, the switches below them. “There’s no way to cut the power from in here… One of us should stay here and keep an eye on her until the other two get the power shut off.”

“This place probably has a back-up, but…” Mercury turned to the door, stepping outside. “There’s usually an exterior control point for power in from the city and a time window before the emergency power comes on. If your friend had stuck around, I could have told her that she’s on a serious time crunch right now.”

Blake followed him, shaking her head. “Ilia doesn’t trust humans. Surprised she let you tag along at all. Yang, meet us outside once the power cuts off, okay?”

“You got it. Be safe.”

They circled the complex slowly, eyes scanning the sides of the buildings. All of Atlas’s power ran from underground, often directly into a building’s walls. Almost all of them had some exterior source, however, some point where it could be accessed without entering the building for maintenance… or shut down.

“There,” Blake whispered, pointing to the small panel on the outside of one of the buildings. Mercury approached the smooth surface, frowning as he ran his hands over it.

“I didn’t really think about  _ how _ we were going to do this,” he muttered, pulling a knife from his pocket, trying to crack the casing with that. The last thing he wanted to do was electrocute himself.

Frustration won over logic, however, the knife jamming into the miniscule gap between the panel and the building. He pried, popped the panel off and looked at the wires behind it. Now or never.

They snapped and sparked as he and Blake tore the connections, shouting from inside telling them that they’d done their job. The rest was up to Ilia and her contacts. Running footsteps inside masked the sound of their movement outside, finding Yang near the entrance and grabbing her arms. The three of them rounded a corner just as a guard exited the building, ducking into a store and breathing fast.

“Do you think she pulled it off?”

“We’ll know soon.”

“What took you two so long?”

“We didn’t exactly have time to plan!”

“Can I help you find something?” The new voice made the three of them start, turning to the man that had approached them. They looked around the store, relieved laughter bubbling up inside Blake. A wedding dress shop. How typically Atlas. 

“Um, sorry, we were just…Passing through.” Yang grinned, grabbing her two partners by the arm and pulling them outside again. “Whoops.”

“Well,  _ that _ wasn’t suspicious.”

“Let’s just get back to the hotel.”

* * *

She really did look asleep. Eyes closed, body still but not completely motionless. Electrical surges would twitch through her occasionally, making Ruby sit up, hold her breath, wait for those green eyes to open. Each time, Penny would still again in a matter of seconds, and Ruby would let out a breath and go back to waiting.

“You don’t have to stay here,” Winter offered, nodding to the door. “Ironwood has guards outside to make sure nothing happens to her.”

“I know, but… If she wakes up, it’d be nice for her to see a familiar face, right?” And until she had answers, had knowledge that Penny and the soul within her would be safe, Ruby didn’t want to leave. If something happened…

She pushed the thought away, keeping her focus on Penny. If something happened, she’d be there to make sure it was okay. To make sure that no more innocent bystanders were hurt. That was all that mattered. She wasn’t the same sort of protector as her father or sister, but she had her own duties, her own calling that compelled her. Someone needed to protect the protectors, to guard the guardians… and that was her role. Even if she’d never had the chance to learn it properly, with an opportunity presented before her Ruby knew what she had to do.

No one seemed interested in stopping her. Weiss brought her lunch and kept her company as the afternoon went on. Yang met up with her after dark, gave her a tight hug and promises to return. “We’re going to put a stop to this, Ruby. We’ll make things right.”

The sisters looked each other up and down, both their eyes tracking to Penny’s resting form. “You think she can be saved?” Yang asked softly, her arms wrapping around herself slowly. 

“I know she can.”

“Then we’ll save her. We’re leaving tomorrow night.”

Ruby swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, turning and pulling her sister into another tight hug, pressing her face into Yang’s shoulder. She wanted this, needed this. The sudden rush of emotion, of knowledge that this would be their last hug, almost overwhelmed her. “Don’t… Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Aw, but that was my entire plan.” Yang held her close, kissed the top of her head gently and squeezed almost tight enough to hurt. “I’m not alone against this… Everyone is counting on us, working with us, to put this right.”

Put it right. That was what they were doing, what they had to do. Bring the balance to the world, no matter the cost. Ruby let go slowly, reluctantly, wiping a hand across her eyes. “Be safe. I love you, Yang.”

Her footsteps paused near the door, back to Ruby and shoulders tensed. “I love you, too.” The words were choked, thick emotion lingering as Yang left the room before she could say anything else.

Before they had to say what could be a final goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, we've caught up to the point where I don't have anything more written in advance. And I've been a bit stuck on writing in general lately.
> 
> Updates will come as I finish chapters from now on. <3 I'm not sure how much longer this story actually is, but we'll see what happens together.


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